Reckless, Full of Sunshine
by Don'tClimbOnThat
Summary: Sora had a carefree life as a delivery boy, hanging out with friends and irritating his boss. But when a mysterious young man saves his life, he finds himself dealing with all kinds of dark curses, witches, ghosts, and eccentric street performers. Sora, of course, couldn't be more thrilled about his exciting adventure. He doesn't understand what Roxas is always complaining about.
1. The Mysterious Masked Man

Sprawled out on a grassy hill with warm sun in his face and nothing but open sky above him, Sora was a picture of lazy bliss. From his spot, the noisy bustle of the city died away and the only sound was the wind hissing in his ears, and if he concentrated, he could just make out the steady rhythm of the ocean not too far off. The breeze tousled his messy brown hair affectionately and encouraged the tall grass to tickle his tan arms and legs, just on the verge of itching. A bee hummed by his nose before landing delicately on a nearby flower to consider the boy and the flowers crushed beneath him. It darted away a moment later, though, narrowly missing a furry paw that had appeared out of the grass to swat at it. A yellow cat head appeared next, which scowled as it watched its would-be prey escape. The small cat turned to Sora instead, and prodded his side lightly.

"Ne, Sora, shouldn't we be leaving soon?" it asked. The cat received no response. He hopped onto the boy's chest and stared down into his face. "Sora."

Sora gave a deep sigh, which startled the cat on top of him only a little bit.

"We don't have to leave _yet_," said Sora, his voice dreamy and content, blue eyes on the sky.

"Cloud gave you the morning off, not the whole _day_."

"Hm, well," was all Sora had to say to that. He made no motions toward getting up, and the cat settled down into a more comfortable position on top of him, tucking in his feet and tail. Sora's hand came up to scratch the cat's head, which prompted some soft purring.

"Cloud will be mad if we're late," the cat tried again after a long moment, though he was enjoying the head scratching very much.

"Cloud will be mad either way because he likes to be grumpy. So we might as well take our time, I think."

"We have work to do."

"We?" Sora lifted his head to peer at the cat with a raised eyebrow. "What work do _you_ have to do, Roxas? As I recall, _I'm_ the only one doing the work. All you do is sit around like a lazy bum."

The cat stood with a dignified harrumph and jumped down. Sora gave a good-natured chuckle and finally sat up. "Alright, alright," he conceded, "we'll go back." He stood and stretched with a yawn, then gathered up his bike.

Sora waited until Roxas jumped up into the basket attached to the handle bars before pushing off and heading to the dirt path that lead to the city. Once on the path, the bike picked up speed as gravity pulled it along until they were absolutely tearing down the hill. They were a blur of red and blue and brown to any bird, squirrel and tree sprite that happened to look their way. Every small rock in the road had Roxas nearly flying out of his seat in the basket, and he dug in his claws and clung for his life, something he had grown very used to by now.

"Sora!" he howled, "You're going too fast! We're going to die!"

Sora only laughed his usual carefree laugh, gave a joyous 'whoop!' and pedaled faster. But Roxas should have known, really. Anywhere Sora went, he went as fast as he could, and his trusty red bike was his favorite tool for doing so. Everyone who knew him knew that at the very least; It was what he was best known for. Racing down a hill with the smooth metal, rubber, and gears beneath him, avoiding potholes and rocks with a deft lean to one side or another, and laughing with reckless abandon as only dust was left where he had been a blink ago— it was absolutely exhilarating. With the wind and scenery rushing past him, Sora could almost pretend he was flying, gliding across the world. He could almost pretend he was invincible.

They reached the bottom of the hill soon enough and joined the main road, which was mostly flat and smooth. The momentum from the hill kept Sora racing along, and it couldn't have been more than ten minutes until they had left behind quiet grassy hilltops in exchange for bustling cobblestone streets and crooked rows of wooden buildings. At last they had to slow down in order to avoid crashing into people, carts, and automobiles. Roxas was able to relax slightly, though his ears were still plastered against his head and his tail fur stuck out as thick as Sora's arm. Sora sped down winding roads and bridges, expertly dodging both stationary and moving obstacles with glee, making wild sharp turns, and accepting the various calls from the people he passed, both friendly greetings and frantic cursing about his recklessness. He skidded to a halt in front of a familiar building squished between its neighbors, with red-brown walls criss-crossed by its timber framing, sporting faded lettering painted in a large, dirty front window which proclaimed 'Cloud's Delivery'. Sora hopped off his bike and rolled it down the thin alley next to the building to the garage behind the shop. He unlocked the wooden garage door with the sturdy key from one of his pockets, set his bike in its designated spot next to Cloud's gleaming motorcycle, and locked the garage back up again. Next to the garage, a rickety staircase zig-zagged up the wall to the balcony landings of the second and third floors of the building, which held Sora and Cloud's apartments, respectively. On the other side of the staircase was a screen door leading into the shop, which Sora made his way through with Roxas trotting at his heels.

"I'm back!" Sora called, letting the screen door snap shut behind him with a sharp twang to further announce his arrival.

The back door led immediately into a small kitchenette area, complete with a sink, a table, a cupboard, and a small ice box. Every flat space was covered in a mess of some kind, from papers, cardboard boxes—both empty and taped shut—stray cups, odd fliers, postcards, rolls upon rolls of packing tape, and the odd knickknacks that Sora always seemed to think important enough to keep around, all accented with loose strands of short, coarse yellow cat fur that Roxas had shed. The stone gray walls were bare except for the large calendar full of neat markings in red and black pen that Sora was never allowed to touch, and the clock showing exactly how late Sora was. Sunlight from the small window above the sink overlooking the garage was enough to give the room a cheery sort of brightness to contrast the gray walls and floor.

Roxas jumped up onto the table and settled himself in one of the empty boxes lying open. Sora headed straight for the ice box and peered inside, hoping that some kind of food had miraculously appeared since the last time he had checked it. He found only the mostly empty jar of milk and wedge of cheese that had been there when he'd left, although the cheese wedge had been partially diminished. Sora stuck his tongue out at the sight.

"You're late."

Sora closed the ice box and looked up to find Cloud in the doorway leading to the main office, arms crossed over his chest and regular scowl etched into his face. He had a thin build and was not exactly tall, but he struck a rather intimidating figure all the same, with his coal-black clothes, pale, angular face, and air of mild anger constantly radiating from him. He looked like a man who could kill you very easily, and whose ever-thinning patience was the only thing stopping him from doing so. Cloud's cold, ice-colored eyes fixed Sora with a glare from beneath his odd mess of blond hair like two knives waiting to be thrown.

Sora responded with his best charming smile and rubbed the back of his neck absently.

"Well, at least I'm here, right? So, what-a we got?"

No matter how much he tried, Cloud was never able to scare Sora much. It was something Cloud often lamented (though was secretly one of the reasons he kept him around.) Cloud gave a small, exasperated sigh and made an expression that could almost be described as an eye-roll. He turned around and headed back into the office with Sora bouncing along behind him.

The office was much like the kitchenette in that every surface was covered in clutter and a little bit of cat hair. But the piles were slightly neater, and while seemingly haphazard, there was definite organization to the mess which its owners knew well enough. A large desk took up most of the cramped room, flanked by sturdy, squat file cabinets. Shelves covered one wall, upon which sat books and ledgers of various sizes and colors, all painted with the healthy layer of dust they deserved. Piles of boxes lined the walls like tired cardboard soldiers awaiting orders. A tall, leafy plant stood in one corner, withering and wilting, but never quite dead, and a vase of happy daisies sat on the desk amongst the papers, looking slightly out of place. Both of these had been gifts from Aerith and her flower shop across the street, who had been trying to liven up the otherwise dingy room a bit. It wasn't exactly successful, but Cloud never seemed to get rid of any plants Aerith gave them, no matter how much he grumbled about them. Sora was convinced he secretly liked them, but Roxas insisted that he was just too polite to throw away a present.

Cloud picked up a clipboard from the desk and looked it over.

"We've got two large boxes that need to be delivered to Cid's before three. They'll be heavy, so be careful. A guy from the butcher's around the corner dropped off a bunch of packages, and they should be delivered first so they don't spoil. And there are some books that need to go to the University. Other than that, Mrs. Shelke wants this present delivered to her grandson for his birthday. I've got the addresses here." Cloud handed Sora a neat list, and he read it while Cloud showed him which stack against the wall he needed.

"Tch, this is it? This wont even take two hours!" Sora pocketed the list and gave Cloud a grin.

"Yes, well, if you spent any longer sleeping in the grass, whatever is left of your brain would leak out of your ears."

Sora gave him an incredulous stare, his eyes wide enough to take up half his face. "How did you know where I was? Are you psychic now? What else do you know?" Cloud almost laughed at the sincerity of Sora's question. Almost. In fact, his face remained as gloomy as ever.

"There's grass stuck in your hair, idiot." Cloud pulled out a leaf from Sora's wild mop and gave it to him as proof. Sora took it and examined it in interest.

"Hm, so there is. I thought as much," he said, and tucked the leaf into his pocket.

"You better get going, Leaf-head. The streets will be crowded today because of the parade."

Sora's eyes lit up immediately. "There's a parade? Like with magicians and elephants and people on stilts? Ohoo! That's so cool! I can't wait!"

"No, you're thinking of a circus. It's a military parade. Just a bunch of soldiers marching around." Sora visibly deflated. "Quistis told us when she was here yesterday, weren't you listening?"

"No. Quistis is boring."

"Sora! You can't say things like that. She's one of our biggest customers. She's not boring."

"Yes she is. You think so too, I know it." Sora gave a thoughtful nod while Cloud frowned at him. "Anyway, I'm off."

"Are you going to change your shirt? Or put on the company vest?" He gestured to the bulky tan vest hanging on the coat rack next to the front door. It was constructed out of the stiff, itchy material used for potato sacks, with 'Cloud's Delivery' printed in bold black letters across the back.

Sora made a face at the vest like he'd just eaten a worm. He looked down at his own clothes, a slightly dirty blue-and-white striped t-shirt and brown, knee-length shorts with lots of pockets.

"Nah, this is fine."

"It wasn't actually a question. You have to wear the vest. It's the company logo."

"No, I've decided. This shirt is fine." Sora gave a dismissive wave of his hand and started taking the packages to the back to be loaded onto his bike as if the conversation were over. And Cloud supposed it probably was. Every conversation about the vest ended up the same way, so by now it was basically useless. Sora really hated the vest. Cloud gave another put-upon sigh and wondered how exactly he ended up with such an employee.

"There should at least be people on stilts," Sora mumbled to the boxes on his way out back the door. Cloud heard him and shook his head in exasperation.

Outside, Sora strapped the larger boxes to the back of his bike and put the smaller packages in the front basket. Roxas appeared and hopped back into his place in the basket when Sora finished, sitting on top of the packages.

"Cloud said there's going to be a parade!" Sora informed him.

"Yeah, down the main street and through the plaza in the northern district. Quistis told us yesterday."

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

Sora rode out of the back alley and then they were back to racing through the streets. Up and down winding roads, across wide and narrow bridges, through skinny back alleys, past railway tracks, and over hills, Sora flew all across the city. He was the reason why Cloud's Deliveries had the reputation of being the fastest and most reliable delivery business in town. Anything you needed transported somewhere else, and any time you needed it to be there, Sora was always ready to take it and deliver it on time or earlier. The trickier the timetable, the more complex the route between deliveries, the better, thought Sora. It was more of a challenge that way, and it made him ride even faster. People had grown used to the crazy kid with the little yellow cat and his crazy bike, and while his speed was alarming to pedestrians and automobile drivers, there had yet to be any sort of serious crash because of it. So Sora's antics had become a staple part of city life, much the way the afternoon train rumbling across town or the foot traffic on the day of the farmer's market were.

The first two stops on Sora's list were fairly close by, and their deliveries quite standard. Package given, signature and gratitude received. The next few required him to cross one of the high bridges over the railway tracks and, from the western district, ride up into the steeper hills of the southern district. The southern district was perhaps slightly poorer, and definitely much dirtier. It's streets were narrower and meandered around as if constructed from a map drawn by a child. The buildings were dingier and more cramped, stacked on top of each other haphazardly in a great pile. It was also a much busier area, with people leaning out windows to talk to their friends passing on the street or to hang their laundry, people gathered in small groups on porch stoops involved in loud and sometimes heated discussions, and children running up and down with sticks and balls playing all kinds of odd games. Many of the people Sora passed knew him by sight and called out greetings to him, which he returned. The southern district had the best hills, so of course Sora came by as often as he could. The only problem that Sora ever encountered was that dirt sprites grew pretty big in this area, as they collected more and more dirt, and were strong enough to cause mischief. They mainly gathered in the corners of alleys or in the gutters, and they absolutely loved empty rooms and houses. Lately, though, they had taken to the steep rooftops, where they managed to dislodge and throw the flat clay roof tiles. Pedestrians had to be careful not to get hit by falling roof tiles, and warning notices were displayed every few blocks. Sora had swerved his bike around to avoid being hit many a time, and he was almost certain that the dirt sprites had marked him out in particular to hit, being a fast-moving target and therefore a challenge. Roxas told him he was an idiot.

They made their deliveries fairly quickly, and had time to stop and chat a bit with some of the people he knew. Whenever they stopped, Roxas tried his best to hide in the basket, but people tried to pet him all the same, which he hated. He restrained himself from biting or scratching anyone, though, because Sora told him he shouldn't do that, and he didn't want Sora to be mad at him. Sora avoided exactly two falling roof tiles with ease as he rode about, and told the dirt sprites that they had to try better than _that_. Looking up, Roxas could see their dark shapes scuttling about indignantly. Their last stop in the southern district was up a steep flight of stairs, and while carrying his bike up them had been difficult, riding them back down again had been Sora's favorite part. Incidentally, it had been Roxas' least favorite part.

Finished with delivering all the perishable packages, they made their way back to the western district to Cid's mechanic shop. Cid Highwind's mechanic shop, which didn't exactly have a proper name and which people mostly referred to as 'Cid's' was a low, two-storied stone building across from the railway tracks. An arched doorway large enough for a truck to drive through led to the garage that took up the entire first floor, and it's heavy wooden doors were always kept open to let in air. The second floor was marked by a row of tiny windows which peered out from beneath the overhang of the steep roof. A small square sign hung from a short rod above the door with a picture of a wrench and a gear, and was just about the only official declaration that this building offered some kind of service.

When Sora pulled up, he could already hear the clanging of metal on metal and the gruff shouting of a gravelly voice. He parked his bike against the wall and stood in the doorway, took a deep breath and shouted "Hello!" as suddenly as he could. The resulting startled shout and crash of something being dropped was exactly what Sora had been aiming for, and he laughed.

"That damn kid! Always yellin' his goddamned head off! Appearing out of nowhere! Who the hell does he think he is! He's lucky I didn't saw my fuckin' arm off! Well what are you sittin' around on your ass for! Go see what he wants—And get that shit-eatin' grin off your monkey face!"

A moment later a boy not much older than Sora, though quite a bit taller, appeared from within the garage, still grinning. He had tan skin made darker still from smudges of dirt and grease, and shaggy blond hair that had been bleached further by excessive amounts of time spent in the sun. He wore a pair of permanently dirty overalls over a faded yellow t-shirt, and sturdy but tired work boots. His smile was wide and friendly and crinkled his eyes in a handsome way.

"Hey Sora," he said. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good, Tidus. Just thought I'd drop by and say hi. I've got the boxes you ordered," Sora answered with a smile.

Tidus nodded and the two of them started unhitching the boxes from Sora's bike.

"You got him pretty good, you know," Tidus chuckled. "He was holding all these polls—who knows what for—but he had his arms full of all these really long polls, and then you jump out, and I _swear_ he _jumps_—actually_jumps_—and throws the polls all over the place. It was hilarious. He's still picking them up."

The two of them paused in unloading the boxes and laughed at the grumpy mechanic and his unfortunate characteristic of being easily startled.

"Quit yer yappin'! I can hear you, ya know, ya lazy dumbasses!" Cid's cranky shouting carried out of the garage, and while it didn't stop the two from laughing, it did spur them on to carry the packages inside.

The inside of the garage was significantly darker, and it took Sora a moment for his eyes to adjust. When they did, he found the place as unchanged as usual. The floor was covered in dust and spots of grease, several large tables sat covered in pieces of wood, metal, tools and the half-finished projects they went with, and larger metal and wood scraps leaned against the walls. Sturdy shelves lined the walls, full of tools and boxes containing small parts. A fire was smoking in the large fireplace, heating up a pot sitting in the center and making the garage a bit stuffy.

Cid was found near a work table taken up by several large polls, which Sora assumed had just been picked up. He was a stocky, muscular man in his middle age, with a thick neck and a pinkish sort of face. His short, straw-colored hair was kept back by a chunky pair of goggles and his eyes were dark underneath his furrowed brow. He wore a shirt that may have once been blue and a pair of pants held up by a complicated utility belt. At his feet lay a large, fierce-looking red dog with a spiked collar.

"Hey Cid!" Sora called cheerily from behind the box in his arms.

"That's _Mr. Highwind_ to you, brat. Just set those down by that table there." They did so and Cid walked over to inspect them. The dog got up and followed him, sniffing the boxes in interest, then sniffing Sora in interest. "Ya got both boxes there? Good, it's about time. You can have all the skill in the world, but if you're missin' one little bolt, then you can kiss all that goodbye."

"Sign here, please." Sora handed Cid a paper to sign and a pen. Cid scribbled a signature and gave it back, then turned and glared at Tidus, who was still standing next to them.

"Tidus, get back to work! That pipe isn't going to fix itself."

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say, old man," Tidus replied with a wave of his hand. He settled into a seat at one of the tables and began working.

"Don't you 'old man' me, you monkey!"

Sora crouched down and scratched the dog's ears enthusiastically. The dog responded with equally enthusiastic tail-wagging and attempted to lick as much of Sora's face as possible.

"Hi Red," Sora cooed at the dog as he rubbed his head and sides. "How are you today? Has it been a tough day? Is everyone yelling and dropping things? It must be hard on your delicate little ears!" The dog gave a loud and frankly ferocious-sounding bark and Sora laughed.

"Stop talking to that dog like he's a baby," Cid snapped as he went back to his work fiddling with the poles. "You keep doing that and he's gonna start thinking he _is_ a baby. Then he'll get soft, and what use is he gonna be at guarding the shop!"

"Aww, but he _is_ soft!" Sora replied, talking to the dog. "So soft and fluffy, aren't you, Red? But you have to guard the shop! And you're very good at it! No one wants to steal anything because they know how strong you are! I know, I know! You are so tough! Everyone is impressed!" The dog continued to cover Sora in slobber, loving the attention.

"Stop that! Red, get over here," Cid said, slapping the side of his leg lightly.

But Red perked up suddenly and froze, pupils large and eyes focused unwaveringly on the doorway.

"Red, get over here! What's he looking at—aw dammit, now the cat's here."

Sure enough, Roxas was sitting in the doorway, looking inside curiously, but cautiously. Red crouched down a bit, waiting to pounce, and gave a low growl.

"What're you always bringing that damned cat around for?" Cid barked. "You know Red gets all worked up. I never seen 'im get so worked up about a cat as he does about that one. He's trained not to, doesn't even chase squirrels, but he's always after that cat!"

Sora stood up and grinned. "It's because Roxas is special," he said, as if it were obvious. He grabbed Red's collar to make sure he didn't bolt off after Roxas.

"Yeah, well _some_thing's special alright," Cid grumbled to his tools.

"Hey are you guys going to the parade later?" Sora asked.

"Naw," Tidus answered, "the old man wont let me."

"Yer damn right I wont let ya! We got work to do! I'm not letting you laze around just cuz we're all supposed to get excited about the military. Damn foolish waste of an afternoon, if you ask me. Like we're supposed to be excited about war just cuz some idiots march around in uniform."

"You really think there's going to be a war?" Sora asked.

"Ugh, don't get him started! I'll never hear the end of it!" Tidus moaned. But it was too late.

"Do I think there's going to be a war!" Cid spat. "Well with Alexandria having that blood-thirsty cow of a noble that they do, of _course_ we are. If Sephiroth doesn't get his act together and show some goddamned di_plo_macy once in a while we'll have no choice! All they ever do is threaten and insult each other at those fuckin' meetings. It's like they _want_ war sometimes, I swear! Idiot nobles don't know how to do a damned thing. They just sit around in their fancy houses drinkin' tea all day while hard-workin' people like myself are gonna have to foot the bill if we go to war. Hah! If I ever see any of those Jenova boys I swear I'll pop 'em right in the jaw. Maybe they'll be more diplomatic with their jaws wired shut. Hah!" Cid screwed some bolts into place emphatically.

"You think they drink tea?"

"What? Why is that the one part you listened to? If you're gonna be an idiot, why'd you even ask?"

Sora shrugged. "I dunno, just curious, I guess."

"About the tea?" Tidus asked.

"I wonder what kind they drink."

Tidus paused in thought. "Probably something that goes with biscuits," was his conclusion.

"Biscuits, huh?"

"Rich people eat biscuits, don't they?"

"Well whatever is it, I'm sure it tastes like piss!" Cid barked. "Now get the hell outta here. Quit bothering my worker and ruining my dog."

"Okay," Sora chirped. "I'll see you later. Bye Tidus!"

"Bye Sora!"

Sora left the garage and hopped back on his bike, and Roxas hopped back into the basket.

"So, what'd he say?" Sora asked as they rode off.

"What'd who say?" Roxas shot back, digging his claws into the basket as they turned a corner.

"Red. What'd he say? Did you talk to him?"

Roxas made a frustrated noise. "No! I didn't talk to him! I can't talk to him! You always ask and it's always the same answer. I can't talk to other animals."

Sora chewed his lip, unsatisfied. "Maybe you aren't trying hard enough."

"That has nothing to do with it! That's not—Watch out for that woman! Jeez, you almost hit her!"

"No I didn't. We weren't even close."

"Yes you were, she was—tch never mind."

"Anyway, maybe you just need to practice talking to other animals more. Then you might get it."

"Talking to you is close enough to talking to an animal."

"Hah! That's good coming from _you_, Roxas!"

"Yeah well you—There's a _car_ coming! Are you even _looking_ where you're going?"

"So you're not going to try talking to other animals?" Sora asked, disappointed, as he made a sharp swerve. "I wanna know what Red is saying."

"It's not going to happen. It doesn't work like that, I keep telling you. Besides, he's probably not even saying anything. Dogs don't form language like people do. You got your greeting barks, you got your warning barks, you got your 'I'm-an-idiot-dog' barks, and that's pretty much it."

"So you _can_ talk to him!"

"Anyone could come to that conclusion about dog barks! I can't talk to him! I wouldn't even want to!"

"Fine, fine. You're such a spoil-sport, you know that?"

"Whatever, you're the one who never listens," Roxas grumbled.

The next stop Sora had to make was close to the city's central train station. The train happened to pull up just as he finished delivering the package, rumbling, screeching and billowing smoke, and Sora and Roxas were caught up in heavy foot traffic of people departing and boarding the train as they passed. Sora tried to weave as carefully as he could through the crowd (not that it seemed that way to Roxas) but people getting on and off of trains become startlingly more aggressive than usual, pushing, jostling and barreling their way through, wielding luggage as battering rams. Sora lurched to a halt as a large woman in a coat suddenly rushed in front of him with rolling luggage and a brood of children holding hands trailing behind. The abrupt stop nearly threw Roxas out of the basket, and it was only his claws embedded in its fiber that kept him from flying. The woman didn't appear to have noticed that Sora was there at all, or that they had all come quite close to being seriously injured.

"Eeh! That surprised me!" Sora exclaimed as he watched the group force their way through the crowd almost violently toward the train, practically throwing some people aside in their haste

"You'd better take care not to get trampled, kid," a voice chuckled behind him. "You're little kitten there could have died."

Sora turned to find a tall, wiry young man with a mane of shockingly red hair towering over him. He had two diamond-shaped tattoos underneath green almond-shaped eyes, and a wide, mocking grin. He wore a long black coat buttoned up to the neck and carried a small bag over his shoulder.

Sora gave the stranger a smile. "Yeah I'll keep that in mind," he laughed.

"Make sure you do. There are few things more terrifying than a person late for a train, you know. And being trampled to death seems like such a pathetic way to go, don't you think?"

"Definitely," Sora responded, nodding thoughtfully. "It would not be a heroic death at all. Hey Roxas, are you alright? I know how much you would hate dying, even if it was heroically."

Roxas was huddled in the basket, ears flattened against his head and tail fur thicker than ever. He gave the red-headed man a baleful glare.

"Roxas, huh? Is that his name? He's such a cute little kitty. Can I pet him?" the man asked, reaching a hand toward Roxas. Roxas growled.

"You probably shouldn't try to pet him. He doesn't like other people much," Sora warned.

The man gave a disappointed frown. "That's too bad. I'm usually pretty good with animals." He let his hand drop. Roxas stopped growling, though he didn't stop glaring.

"Nah, don't take it personally. He's just like that. He's very picky when it comes to people he likes."

"Well I'm nothing if not a man who can bounce back from rejection, even from so fair a creature." The man's crooked grin returned.

At the sound of a person wailing, they both turned just in time for a figure loaded with several large bags to collapse in a heap at their feet. The figure disentangled itself from the luggage and stood up, turning into a young man about the same age as the red-headed stranger, though not nearly as tall. His dirty-blond hair was cut in an odd style, sticking up rather tall on top, cut short on the sides, and long enough to reach his shoulders in the back. He was similarly dressed in a long black coat, though a spot of a bright blue neck scarf peaked through.

"Axel! How could you leave me with all the bags!" he moaned at the red-head. "Did you see how crazy these people are? Now I'm all sweaty and gross! And most of this is your stuff anyway!"

"Oh? Didn't you say you wanted to carry them all? I could have sworn you said that earlier. Ah well, if you weren't strong enough to carry them then you should have admitted it. There was no need to be ashamed. I really thought you would have been more capable, though."

"I said no such thing!" the second man squawked. "Don't turn your laziness into my failure! You need to pull your own weight if this is going to work, in this case _literally_—" He stopped suddenly, just having noticed Sora and the cat blinking up at him. His faced morphed instantly from a scowl into a friendly smile. "Hi there!" he beamed. "I'm Demyx, nice to meet you!" He grabbed Sora's hand and shook it enthusiastically.

"I'm Sora. And this is Roxas."

"Aw what a cute kitty cat! Look at him in his little basket!"

Roxas was immediately on the defensive again and snarled at Demyx's approaching hand coming in to pet him. Demyx snapped his hand back with a startled yip.

"And I am Axel, at your service" said the first man with a flourished bow.

"Are you two new in town? Looks like you just got off the train."

"Indeed we are," Axel replied in a lofty voice. "Demyx and I are but two humble traveling performers going from city to city, seeing the world and providing entertainment where we can. This is our first time in this wonderful city-state of Nomura, though I doubt we will stay long. Ours is a wandering nature, you see. We never stay anywhere for too long."

"Performers? Really? What do you do?" Sora's eyes brightened with excitement.

"Ah, we do many things," Demyx broke in with a grand manner equaling Axel's. "We are well versed in song, dance, story-telling, juggling, and magic. Few can match our talented diversity!"

"Magic? Ohoo that's so cool! I can't wait to see!"

"And so you shall, my friend, and so you shall! A better show you'll be hard-pressed to find!" Axel said with a friendly clap on Sora's shoulder. "We are called the Flurry of Dancing Flames and the Melodious Nocturne!" He gestured dramatically for emphasis. "Make sure to memorize that."

"Eh? How could I memorize that? That name is way too long!"

"What are you talking about?" Demyx balked. "It's a perfect name! It took us a long time to come up with it, you know."

"Well you definitely need a better one. That one stinks. It sounds like you just came up with it on the train." Demyx's eyes widened, horrified, and Axel raised his thin eyebrows.

"And what would you suggest?" Demyx asked, quite concerned.

"I dunno. Something shorter. Catchier. How can you market such a long name for a show? It wouldn't fit on any banners. And traveling shows need to have good banners."

"That's true that's true!" Demyx cried. "How could we not have thought of that! We won't have a good banner! And then no one will come to our shows!"

Axel didn't seem to be as concerned as Demyx was about their show's poor title, but was was instead quite amused.

"Well, anyway," said Sora, "I'd better get going. Work to do. I'll see you around!"

"Wait! What about our name? The Flame of the Dancing Nocturne? The Melodious Flurry of Flame? Dancing Music Fire? Happy Burning Songs?"

"They just keep getting worse! I have to go, though. I'm sure you'll think of something. I can't wait to see your show, whatever it's called! It was nice meeting you!"

"I'm sure we'll meet again," Axel said with a two-finger salute.

Sora rode off as Demyx stressed through a whole set of possible new names. Narrow green eyes followed Sora's retreating figure until he disappeared through the crowd.

"There was something odd about that kid, don't you think?" Axel asked.

"I've got it! The Water and Fire Musical Variety Show!"

"Tch, whatever you want. Let's just get out of the train station already." He adjusted the small bag over his shoulder and set off through the busy mob of people.

"Hey wait! How did I get stuck with all the bags again! Get back here! These aren't even mine!"

The only packages left to deliver were to the University, further into the northern district. In direct contrast to the southern district, and quite different even from the western district, the northern district was a very refined and shockingly clean part of the city. Buildings were taller, larger, less cramped, and constructed of more stone and glass than wood, many with neat green lawns and tall fences. Long blocks of proud apartments lined the more major boulevards, continuous and mostly similar in style. They were made up of practical, even lines, some with more elaborate facades than others, but all with windows and stylish iron balconies aligned. The sidewalks were wider and the streets straighter, lined with wrought-iron lamp posts twisted into complicated designs. There were more automobiles on the roads in a larger variety of brighter colors, yet there was somehow less honking. And if honking did occur, it was usually directed at the motorized scooters weaving through traffic and the rich, dashing young men and women riding them. The people on the street were unquestionably more posh—the women with large, ostentatious hats and skirts and men in colorful vests and jackets. While the northern district was nowhere near as hilly as the southern district, it was certainly constructed on an incline, with neighborhoods rising higher in tiers the further north you went. At the top of this large hill, overlooking everything, was the Jenova mansion, the house of the governing nobles of the city. It was a impressive building, bigger than the whole block of buildings on Sora's street, and could be seen from almost anywhere in the northern district.

Looking up, Sora could see the mansion, but it wasn't his main focus. He was searching for the high glass dome of the University, which was somewhere on that hill, though not nearly as far as the mansion. Spying the glitter of sunlight on a large glass surface which could only be the University, he marked his course and set off. There were a lot more people on the street, though, obviously getting ready tor the parade, but mostly getting in Sora's way. People walked slowly and in large groups, horse-drawn carts full of decorations of some kind ambled along, and petty officers had started roping off parts of the street. Sora wasn't exactly _tired_, but the incline certainly wasn't easy on a bike, and with the crowds, the going wasn't the fastest. Roxas, at least, was pleased by this.

Eventually Sora found himself at the University, a cluster of grand buildings made of smooth, whitewashed stone and long glass windows, connected by covered walkways and arched doorways. The famous glass dome sat atop the tallest of these buildings, looking both elegant and formidable. Around the buildings lay lavish gardens and manicured lawns that Sora always found a bit too symmetrical and unnatural to enjoy completely, but they were certainly pretty by most standards.

Sora chained his bike up against a fence and made his way into what he knew to be the student dormitory building. He handed his small stack of packaged books to a stern-looking woman sitting behind a large desk just inside the door. The woman looked down her long nose at the sight of Sora, taking in the messy hair, dirty clothes, and cat on his shoulder with disgust, as if the sight of him was a personal affront. She signed for the packages without a word in a silence clearly meant to be more insulting than any words she could come up with. The sting was mostly lost on Sora, however, and he went off on his merry way.

Finally free to enjoy the parade, Sora zipped down the hill with a bike free of extra burdens. He could hear cheers and marching tunes played by trumpets and drums already. They reached the main plaza before the procession did, which gave Sora time to lock up his bike and find a good spot. The latter was easier said than done, however, as the sidewalk was quite densely packed with people who all seemed to be unreasonably tall. And since the parade apparently lacked people on stilts, this was a problem.

Sora pushed and squeezed his way through the crowd as best he could while Roxas weaved expertly through people's feet behind him. Eventually, Sora was able to make a spot for himself behind two people in the front of the crowd. One was very tall and the other was very fat, but Sora was could see the parade through a nook created by their elbows. Roxas settled down on Sora's feet.

The procession finally reached their stretch of the road, with trumpets blaring and drums pounding patriotically. The sound of hundreds of pairs of feet marching in time was steady and firm, accented with the clop of horse hooves scattered throughout. The street became a stream of green and silver uniforms, shouldered bayonets, and ruddy faces trying their best to look forward stoically instead of smiling arrogantly at the people cheering for them. There was a small cluster of highly-decorated soldiers on horseback riding between a break in the troops, and the crowds cheered wildly as they passed. The man with the most distinguished uniform, quite probably a general of some kind, rode ahead of the others on a fine black horse. Unlike almost every other person involved with the parade, this man did not seem at all happy to be there. Rather, he looked as though he had just finished arguing with someone, and a murderous frown darkened his features underneath his uniform cap, intensifying the fierce scar that ran diagonally across his face. Sora wondered briefly why someone could be so unhappy when they got to ride a horse in a parade, but was reminded that riding horses could be uncomfortable sometimes and figured that that was probably the reason. Or perhaps this man was a bit like Cloud, and pretended to be grumpy because he wasn't sure how to be happy.

The next troops that passed wore uniforms of green and black, clearly identifying them as the renown mage troops. Sora studied them closely, because all things magic were ceaselessly interesting to him. Unlike the combat troops, who all displayed a general uniformity when it came to size and physical build, the mage troops were far more varied. While there were a few with a strong physique, many were tall and thin, others quite small, and some even a bit plump. But all had a confident gleam in their eye betraying their unusual and extraordinary abilities. At the head of these troops was a well-decorated woman on horseback with short blue hair peaking out from under her cap. She looked quite bored, though she was trying her best to hide it. Sora could still tell, though, and thought it was quite funny.

After these troops was apparently the cavalry, and the sound of horse hooves preceded the troops themselves.

There was some shouting somewhere in the crowd behind Sora, as if someone had started a fight. A few people started shoving at each other, which jostled the others around them. Because everyone was so closely packed together, the shoving in one area rippled and increased like a wave to create rough pushing in another, and Sora was squished uncomfortably. A particularly violent thrust propelled Sora forward through the people in from of him, and he found himself quite suddenly sprawled in the street a shockingly far distance from the crowd he had just been part of. He looked up and saw several rows of oncoming cavalry horses moments away from trampling and crushing him. The closest horse reared at the sight of Sora, and the person riding gave a startled yelp. Sora scrambled to get out of the way, but the horse's hooves were flying and coming back down fast. The crowd watching gave a collective gasp.

Abruptly, strong arms wrapped themselves around Sora's waist and snatched him out of the way. The rearing horse landed on all fours again with a thud, but no bone-crunching accompanied it. Bewildered, Sora saw that he was now out of the street and by the curb of the sidewalk a safe distance away from the parade. The crowd around him had parted slightly, giving him room, and they all peered down at him with worried faces. For a brief, upside down moment where anything was possible, Sora wondered if Roxas had managed to save him somehow. But when he looked up, it was into jade-green eyes in a handsome pale face framed by longish silver hair.

"Are you alright?"

Blinking, Sora saw that the face belonged to a boy a little older than him, wearing a well-tailored white silk shirt and a concerned frown.

Sora thought about it, but it seemed that all his body parts had indeed been rescued. So he gave a nod, which the boy above him found suitable enough, if the relieved smile was enough to go by.

The crowd watching gave a collective cheer.

The boy stood and offered Sora his hand, which he accepted. Sora brushed himself off a bit and gave the boy tremendous smile.

"Thank you so much. That would have been a terribly un-heroic way to die."

The boy gave him an odd look. "Yes, I suppose it would have been." He paused, looking at the people around him as if suddenly self-conscious, and swallowed uncomfortably. "Well, I'm glad you're unhurt. Goodbye." And with that, the boy turned sharply and left. The crowd parted for him easily, but seemed to close up again when he had passed through.

"Wait!"' Sora called after him. "Who said you could leave!" But the boy had already gone.

A cat's howling alerted Sora to Roxas pawing at his feet. He scooped the cat up into his arms and scratched his cheek as he purred nervously. Together they made their way through the crowd and back to his bike, having seen enough of the parade.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Roxas said once they were far enough away from everyone.

"Yeah me too. It was so exciting!"

"What?" Roxas snapped. "Exciting! You could have been killed!"

"Yeah, but I wasn't! All thanks to that mysterious masked man! I wonder who he was!"

"Sora, he wasn't wearing a mask."

"Yeah, well he should have been. If he's going to run away and be mysterious, he might as well wear a mask. Plus, I've always wanted to say something like 'who was that masked man?' and now I got to."

There was a pause before Roxas responded.

"Sora, you might have hit your head harder than I thought. We should go home so you can lie down."

"Yeah, okay." was his cheerful response as he pedaled along.

* * *

**A/N: Well that turned out to be kind of long. Thank you to anyone who managed to read all the way through! A plot of some kind will develop, I promise. Comments, concerns, corrections, critiques all welcome.**


	2. The Shadow Monsters

Cloud looked up from where he was working at the desk when Sora came back to the shop.

"Finished the deliveries?" he asked.

"Yup. Here are the signatures." Sora handed him the list from his pocket and Cloud placed it in a folder.

"How was the parade?"

"Oh, it was great. I almost died."

"You...you almost _died_? How? What happened?"

"I don't really know. I was watching the parade, but then somehow I was in the street and a horse was about to attack me. But _then_ this mysterious masked man saved me and pulled me out of the way in time! Then he disappeared."

Cloud stared at Sora hard, trying to figure out if any part of that story was true. Sora never exactly lied, but his interpretation of events was always a little stranger than a normal person's understanding of the world. In the end, Cloud decided it was impossible to be sure, but conceded that something at least had probably happened.

"Only you would find a way to make a parade dangerous."

"It was fun!" he laughed. "But I'm going up to my room now. Roxas thinks I should lie down."

Cloud eyed the small cat in Sora's arms and the cat seemed to eye him back. Cloud had beyond given up trying to understand why Sora acted like the cat understood what he was saying. He settled for raising a skeptical eyebrow at the boy.

"Of _course_ he does," he remarked dryly. "I think you should lie down, too."

Sora nodded and trotted off to the second floor to his apartment and did just that. Well, first he made himself a pretty delicious sandwich. But after he ate that, he definitely lied down.

Though he kept a sharp eye out as he rode about town, Sora neither caught a glimpse nor received any clue about the identity of the mysterious boy who had saved him. And it was killing him. Sora knew almost every part of the city, and had probably delivered to or at least ridden past almost every city resident. So why could he not find this boy? How common could silver hair on a young person be, anyway? And yet, nothing. But Sora was determined to find this boy and make him his friend! Sora was determined to make most people his friend, but this boy in particular had saved him from a pathetic, trampled doom, and he couldn't just let that go unrewarded. Sora's friendship, of course, was a great reward.

About a week and a half after the incident, his searching finally yielded some results.

The list of stops that Sora had to make that day had, for the first time ever in Sora's experience and probably in the delivery company's history, included the Jenova mansion. When Sora found out, he had been bouncing with excitement since he had never been there before and was interested in seeing what the nobles looked like up close. Cloud hadn't seemed to care one way or another about the matter. He had assured Sora that the delivery was only to one of the maids living there and that it was very unlikely for him to see the nobles at all. Then he had gotten a strange, panicked look and made Sora promise that he wouldn't try to talk to any nobles if, for some reason, he happened to find one. Sora had agreed, although he wasn't sure what Cloud had been so afraid of. In Sora's experience, talking to people was always fun and turned out well.

But now Sora was on his way further north than he had ever been, up to the top of that high terraced hill. When he arrived, he was met with large iron gates covered in gold embellishments formed to look like what may have been dragons. An older man in a stiff suit walked up to the gates and asked Sora what business had brought him there.

"I've got a delivery for a—" he checked the paper quickly, "For a Miss Kairi. She's here, right?"

The man gave Sora a look and paused, probably for dramatic effect, Sora thought, before giving a slight incline of his head and opening the gates for him to pass.

"Take this road around to the back of the house where the servants' quarters are. Someone will find Miss Kairi for you."

"Got it! Thanks old guy!" Sora called with a wave and rode off in the direction the man had indicated.

The wide gravel road Sora pedaled down circled a large garden reminiscent of the one at the University. It had an array of neat, precisely-trimmed bushes and bright flowers arranged in colorful and intricate designs around the large pool and fountain in the center. Overlooking the garden, of course, was the mansion. The building was raised up on a platform terrace with wide stairs leading up to it at each end. Constructed of smooth stone carved with details and lined with numerous winking windows, it rose up three impressive stories, with two main towers to each side and one in the center. The sloping gray roof was shaped like pyramids with the tops cut off on the two side towers and rounded a bit on the central tower, poked with a number of scattered chimneys. The sunlight hitting the stone gave the building a warm golden glow and it radiated pride as much as an inanimate thing could.

Sora took a moment to appreciate its grandeur as he rode by, and even Roxas was impressed. But the man at the gate still had a disapproving eye on him so he continued to the servants' quarters like he was supposed to.

When he reached the back of the building, he locked his bike up to a sturdy pole he found and wandered in through a large open door. Inside was a bustle of servants running about with baskets and trays and piles of laundry, all talking and shouting at one another animatedly.

"Hello! Excuse me, are any of you Kairi?"

One maid had finally noticed his presence and turned to him.

"Who are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for Kairi. I've got a delivery for her."

"Alright, I'll go find her for you. But you can't bring that cat in here," she said, nodding at Roxas sitting on his shoulder.

"Okay thanks!"

The maid scurried off into the house and returned after a while with a skinny girl about Sora's age and height behind her. She had dark, red-brown hair swept back into a loose bun and large, gray-blue eyes set in a heart-shaped face. She wore a knee-length apron over a pale pink dress and dark stockings, and had a small maid's hat pinned in her hair.

"I thought I told you to put that cat outside," the first maid scolded.

"Oh, don't worry, he's fine," Sora told her. She frowned at him but then gave up and walked away, clearly having more important things to do. He turned to the second maid. "Are you Kairi?" he asked.

She gave a nod and raised an eyebrow. "I am. And who are you?"

"I'm Sora! I have a package for you." He handed her the package he had been holding with a great smile. "And I need you to sign here, please."

She looked at the package in surprise but signed for it. She turned it over and squinted at the writing on it.

"Who is it from? I wasn't expecting anything. The return address is smudged. I can't make it out."

Sora shrugged. "I dunno," he said. "We got that one shipped to us from out of town. Sometimes mail-carriers going between cities give us their larger packages so they don't have to deliver them. I think that one came from the country-side."

"The country-side!" Kairi exclaimed. "Was it to the south? A little village?"

Sora shrugged again, quickly growing bored of this conversation and far more interested in the antics of the bustling servants.

"Then it must be from my grandmother! Oh that's so great! Thank you thank you!" She paused suddenly in her excitement, and gave a suspicious look around her. "Come on," she said in a low voice. "I can't open it here. Let's go outside." Before Sora could say anything, she grabbed his wrist and tugged him out the door.

She found a spot for them on the stairs behind a low wall. Sora and Roxas looked over Kairi's shoulder in interest as she tore open the package.

"Aha! I knew it! She sent them!" Kairi poured out the contents of the package, revealing a whole lap-full of candies wrapped in bright colored foil. "The little village I grew up in specializes in making these chocolates—the best in the world! And my grandma sent me some. I'll share some with you since you brought it. It's no fun to eat them by yourself. Plus, I've decided I like you. And I'm usually a pretty good judge of character."

"Ohoo! I can really have some?" Sora, asked, eyes shining as he received a handful. "How exciting! First I get to go the the mansion, then I get to eat the best chocolate in the world! What a fun day!" He popped a chocolate in his mouth and made a delighted noise as it melted on his tongue. He noticed Kairi pulling more items out of the large package. "What else is in there?" he asked.

"Let's see. Two books, a scarf, and a hat. She must have made the scarf and the hat. She's very good at crochet. When I was little, she used to make all these silly dolls for me." Kairi tried on the hat and scarf, both a light purple. "How do I look?" she asked with a flourish.

Sora smiled around a mouthful of chocolate and gave an approving nod.

"And— oh!" she gasped. "How did she get these books?"

Sora swallowed his mouthful and looked over. "_Human Anatomy and Function_, and _Matter and Force: Basic Physics_," he read aloud. "That sounds boring."

"It is _not_ boring, thank you very much!" she huffed. "It is _science_. And one day, I will be a brilliant scientist! I may be just a lowly housemaid now, but I am saving up to go to the University one day. And when I do, I _will_become a scientist!" She lifted her chin proudly while her eyes took on a dreamy glint.

"Oh, really? Well, when you get to the University, there will be a scowly woman who sits at the desk in the dorm building, and she will give you mean looks if your clothes are dirty or if you have a cat. But don't worry, she's not in charge. I asked, and she's definitely not in charge."

"That's good to know," Kairi said with a laugh. She looked over at Roxas, who was batting at one of the discarded candy wrappers. "What's your cat's name?"

"This is Roxas. Don't mind if he ignores you, though, he's usually pretty rude about that."

"That's okay, he can do what he likes, I guess. Do you bring him everywhere you go? Like on deliveries and stuff?"

"Yeah, he's mostly always with me. He gets nervous if I'm gone for too long."

Roxas gave him a frown at that. He sauntered a few steps down and sat with his back toward them.

"Aw, look, he's embarrassed." Kairi chuckled.

"Whatever, he'll get over it. Say, what's it like working at the mansion? Do you live here and everything? Is it exciting? I always thought it would be fun to live in a big house like this. You could run around in all the rooms and climb up high on the roof and see really far."

"Mm, it's alright, I guess. The pay is pretty good and the head housekeeper is really nice. Most of the maids are friendly, too. I share a room with two other girls and they're lots of fun. Sometimes, when no one is looking, we run around the rooms a little bit," she added with a secret smile.

"I knew it!"

"Some of the other workers are kind of dumb, though. There's this one guy, Hayner—he's the stable-hand—and he's always getting on my nerves and pulling pranks on me. Yesterday, he had this wire and he tripped me so I fell in a stack of hay. It got all stuck in my hair and everything. He makes me so mad! And the nobles aren't really very nice. You have to try to stay out of their way."

"How come?"

She paused in thought. "Well, Lord Sephiroth is alright. He mostly just ignores the servants. It's his sons you have to watch out for, Masters Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj. They're worse than Hayner. They pinch you or knock things out of your hands and try to get you in trouble if they're in a bad mood. But I know how to avoid them by now, so it's not too bad. And Master Xehanort is kind of weird, too. He's the main adviser, and he creeps me out. He's never done anything mean, but he's just...Well I always get this weird feeling from him."

"What kind of feeling?"

"I don't know, I can't explain it. I just get this feeling about people sometimes. Like right now, I get this feeling about you, sort of bright and shiny, and it says you're a good kind of person. That's why I let you have some of my chocolates."

"Yeah? Well that's nice! Hey, what does it say about Roxas?"

"Your cat? It doesn't usually tell me anything about animals, but—" She looked at Roxas and gave a thoughtful frown. "He's a bit of a strange cat, isn't he?"

Roxas gave a start and crouched down on the step as if trying to hide from her.

"Hey you've got a fun superpower!" Sora laughed.

Kairi blushed. "It's not really a superpower. I don't know what it is. It's not like usual magic or anything, that much I know. I've tried looking it up."

"Mysterious superpowers are even better!" Sora declared.

The two of them laughed and continued to munch on chocolates until approaching footsteps on the gravel made Kairi freeze. From their spot behind the low wall, they were slightly hidden, but Kairi started gathering up her things.

"I'd better go," she whispered. "If that's the housekeeper or one of the butlers, I could get in trouble."

"I'll peek over and see," Sora whispered back.

Sora peered over the wall as stealthily as he could. The person they heard was walking along the path not far from where they sat. But it wasn't a housekeeper and it didn't look like a butler, either. It was a young man with shoulder-length silver hair wearing a crisp green shirt and fine black pants tucked into polished boots. It was hard to make out his features from the distance, but he looked familiar.

"Hey, that's the guy who saved me!"

"Sora, be quiet!" Kairi hissed.

"I've been looking everywhere for him! He saved me from a stampede a while ago, but then he ran off. Who is he?"

Kairi looked over to see.

"Oh, that's Master Riku," she said quietly as he walked past. "He's Lord Sephiroth's nephew. I don't know him very well, though. He never really talks to anyone. People call him the Ice Prince since he's always so cold to anyone who tries to talk to him. He's a mage, too, the only one in the family, and I've heard his ice spells are really strong—You know, now that I think of it, _that_ might be where the Ice Prince name comes from. Huh, why did that never occur to me before now?"

"What do your superpowers say about him?"

"That's the thing, I've always gotten a strange feeling from him. Like he's a good kind of person maybe, but then there's something else on top of that, something dark, kind of. I could never figure him out."

"Well, I'm gonna go talk to him," Sora announced, standing up from where he had been crouched at the wall.

"What!" Kairi hissed. "You can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Because he's a noble. You can't just go up and talk to him out of nowhere!"

"Cloud said the same thing. But I've been looking for him for a while now, and I'm not going to just _not_ talk to him after I finally found him!" And with that, he hopped out from behind the wall and down the stairs.

"Hey!" Sora called after the boy with a friendly wave. "Hey wait!"

The boy stopped and turned to him, startled by his shouting and sudden appearance.

"Um, can I help you?" he asked as Sora approached.

"Yeah! You're Riku, right?" The boy nodded hesitantly. "I'm Sora! You saved me at the parade a few days ago, do you remember?"

"Yes, I remember. What do you want?" Riku said with a frown. He didn't exactly look happy to see Sora again, but that wasn't the kind of thing to put Sora off.

"I wanted to meet you and say thank you!"

"You already said thank you at the parade."

"Well I wanted to say it again."

"Alright. And now you have, so go away."

"But I didn't say it yet."

"Yes you did. Just now."

"I said that I _wanted_ to say thank you, but I didn't actually_ say_ it yet."

"Then do it."

Sora took a great breath and thrust his fists in the air. "THANK YOU!" he shouted as loud as he could.

Riku gave a noticeable start, eyes wide in bewilderment. But after a moment, his frown was back.

"Well, that was certainly...something. I feel very...uh...thanked."

"Good, I'm glad."

"Well, now that that's done, I'll be on my way." Riku started to turn away.

"No, wait! I want to be your friend!"

"What? That's not necessary," Riku said as he leveled his frown at Sora once again.

"Yes it is. We should definitely be friends."

"That's too bad, I'm not going to be your friend. Now stop bothering me, I have things to do." He started walking away, but Sora followed him.

"Come on! It'll be fun! We'll have adventures all the time and make jokes and stuff. We can visit each other's houses and take the train and go camping maybe. Or to the beach, whichever you want."

"I don't want to go to the beach."

"Why not? The beach is fun. Oh well, we can go camping then. That's fun, too."

"I don't want to do _either_ of those things."

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"I'm going to go to my room, and you're going to go away."

"Do you like to ride bikes? We could do that. I'm good at riding bikes."

"If I'd known you were this annoying, I wouldn't have saved you."

Sora laughed. "You're funny. I like you."

"Leave me alone. I don't have time for idiots like you."

"Be my friend."

"No."

"You can't say no to friendship."

"Yes I can. I don't want to be your friend."

"It's too late. I've decided. We are friends."

"You can't just go deciding things like that for people. I'm not your friend."

"Would you like a chocolate?"

"Would I—what?" Riku stopped walking and looked at him, more out of confusion than anything.

"A chocolate. Here." Sora handed Riku one of the brightly-wrapped chocolates he had with him. Riku looked at it in his hand, unsure how it had gotten there or when he had agreed to take it. "I got this from my friend Kairi who I met earlier. She says it's the best in the world. You can ask her if you want. She's right over there." Sora pointed over to the wall where Kairi was peering over watching them. When they looked her way, she disappeared behind it with an 'eep!'

"Well, go on," Sora urged. "Eat it. It's yummy." He took out another one from his pocket and ate it happily.

Riku unwrapped the chocolate and looked at it suspiciously. He nibbled a corner.

"No, not like that. You've got to eat it all at once! Then you'll get the full experience! It melts on your tongue and everything!"

He frowned harder at Sora, but gave sigh and ate it all. He chewed it slowly.

"Well? Do you like it?"

"Yes. It's very tasty, " Riku said, still frowning.

"Of course it is. It wouldn't be the best in the world if it wasn't. Alright, I've gotta go, I have more deliveries to make. It was nice meeting you! I'm glad we're friends now!"

"We're not friends!"

"Of course we are. You're so funny."

Sora turned and walked back over to the wall where Kairi was peeking over again. Behind him, a very confused Riku was standing with his mouth slightly open as if he were trying to think of something to say but couldn't. Once back at the stairs, Sora gave Kairi a wide smile.

"See? It wasn't bad at all. He's very nice, you should try talking to him more."

Kairi squinted at him and wondered if they had heard the same conversation.

"Anyway, I really have to go."

"Alright. Bye Sora, come back soon!"

"Okay! You can tell me what's in those science books next time. Come on, Roxas!"

Roxas trotted over from where he had been laying in a spot of sunshine. They got back on the bike and Sora gave a wave to both Kairi and Riku (who was still frowning at him) before riding off.

The next day, Sora finished his deliveries in the late afternoon when the sun hung heavy in the sky and bathed the town in a soft orange light. As he road past a small open square in the eastern district, he heard music, laughter and a few cheers from a small crowd gathered by a fountain. So of course Sora had to stop and see what was happening. Roxas was curious, too.

"Come one! Come all! Gather 'round and witness the most talented, the most amazing, the most spirited show you will ever see! The magic! The music! The mystique! You there! Little girl, won't you please step forward? Come on now, don't be shy!"

The voice sounded familiar, and sure enough, when Sora and Roxas got closer, they recognized the shock of bright red hair and mischievous crooked smile. Next to him, his blond companion was playing a light, twangy melody on a large stringed instrument that looked a bit like a guitar but which clearly wasn't. They were wearing more colors than the last time Sora had seen them, both with vividly patterned waistcoats and shirts. They stood in front of the large fountain in the center of the square with a small crescent of crowd gathered in front of them, and together they were coaxing a small girl forward. Above them, hanging across two upright polls was a cloth banner with the words 'Fire and Water Magical Music Show' painted in sloppy letters.

"And what's your name, little girl?" Axel asked as he took her hand and led her to the front of the audience.

"Marlene," she answered shyly. She gave a nervous smile to Demyx, who returned it tenfold as he strummed his melody.

"Ah, Marlene, what a beautiful name! Angels sing it from the heavens! Now my dear, what is your favorite color?"

"Aqua-marine," she said with a blush.

"Aqua-marine! What a color! How do you know such a long name for a color? When I was your age, I just called it blue! Gone are the days when children liked simple colors like pink or yellow. Ah, well, I can tell you're a smart girl. Now Marlene, I have a gift for you for being so brave and coming up here in front of everybody."

Her eyes lit up with excitement as Demy's tune shifted into something soft and slightly mysterious. Axel gave a dramatic twist of his hands and suddenly produced a flutter of butterflies made of sparkling colored fire. Marlene gave a gasp of delight, for the butterflies were unquestionably aqua-marine. They danced about in the air to the tune Demyx played, multiplying and flitting about with small flicks of Axel's hands. One of the butterflies came to land on the girl's open palm and she held it like a candle flame, her face alight with joy. The crowd 'ooh-ed' and 'aww-ed' at the display. After a brief moment on her hand, it took off again, and they all burst into tiny little fireworks in blues and greens. The fireworks did not fade out, however, but instead seemed to grow bigger with every flash. Soon the fireworks were large enough to shower the square with blue, green, and gold glitter, and did so until a final blast erupted with a magnificent fiery sparkle. The crowd cheered.

"Thank you, thank you. A round of applause for Marlene, everybody!"

The little girl blushed even more.

"Alright Marlene, you can go back now. But first!" Axel gave another twist of his hand and was suddenly holding a delicate flower with large, blue-green petals. He tucked the flower behind her ear and she giggled a 'thank you' before rejoining the crowd.

"And now! Feast your eyes on the amazing control of the elements! Demyx, if you will!"

Demyx and his instrument stepped into the center of the makeshift stage in front of the fountain.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, my name is Demyx, and I will now perform for you the Dance of the Waterfall."

The audience watched on in rapture as Demyx began to play a slow, silly tune, plucking twangy notes. Behind him, the water in the fountain started to rise in large droplets that hung in mid-air and bobbed to the music. The crowd gasped in surprise. As the rhythm picked up pace, so did the water's dancing, and the droplets began weaving overhead and twirling into different shapes. The song slowly built into a wild, frenzied tune that had the audience swaying and clapping to the beat. The water began crashing back into the pool and emerging again to fly above them with fantastic flurries and dramatic shapes. The song reached a climax and the water combined into a sort of flying river that twisted and rolled about the audience. The water eventually made its way back to the fountain and the song reached its end. The crowd, which had grown bigger during the last performance, erupted in applause and cheers. Demyx took a dramatic bow.

"Thank you, thank you!" Demyx called above the noise. "If you enjoyed that, wont you please donate to our wonderful cause so that we may live to perform another day! Place all donations in the hat or the sitar case! We don't ask for much, we only ask what you think this amazing show was worth to you! The show was free to watch, but it was not free to perform, folks. A guy's gotta eat, you know. Yes, thank you. In the hat and sitar case, thank you very much!"

A considerably large number of people stepped forward and dropped coins into the hat and instrument case at the performers' feet. Sora made his way to the front and tossed a coin in as well.

Demyx had started a lazy, lilting melody and Axel was holding several palm-sized balls in his hands. When they caught sight of Sora, Demyx's eyes light up.

"Ah! And now it's time for our renown and very impressive mind-reading act! You there, with the cat on your shoulder, won't you step forward?" Demyx asked, looking at Sora.

"Me? Okay."

Sora stepped up to the front and stood next to the two of them. Demyx strummed his sitar wildly but then suddenly stopped with his hands over the strings. He closed his eyes as if in deep concentration and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Ah, I see, I see!" Demyx said with a mysterious kind of voice. "You...Your name...I see it! It's coming to me across the dimensional plane! Your name...is Sora! Is that correct young sir?"

"Yeah, don't you remember? I met you the other day at the train station."

"No, we did _not_ meet at the train station! But we may have met...through the dimensional plane! Yes yes!"

"Oh, I thought it was the train station."

"Well...it wasn't. It was the dimensional plane." Demyx opened one eye to give Sora a scowl but then closed it again quickly.

"And...what's this? It's coming to me! You like to ride on a bike! A...a red one!"

"Yeah I ride my bike a lot."

"And your cat. The dimensional plane tells me he is not a friendly cat! Does he...like to growl at perfectly nice people?"

"Sometimes."

"Aha! I see! Now, the dimensional plane is calling...it tells me that you are twelve years old!"

"No, I'm sixteen."

"What!" Demyx squawked, opening his eyes and losing his dramatic mind-reader act completely. "You're not sixteen! How can you _possibly _be sixteen!"

Sora shrugged. "I dunno, I just am."

"I don't believe you. Thirteen, maybe."

"Nope. Sixteen."

"You _can't_ be! You don't look sixteen at all!"

"You're not a very good mind-reader are you?" Sora asked with a laugh.

"What! How dare you insult my skills!"

"Alright, alright, everybody give it up for the comedy act Demyx and Sora!" Axel interjected as the crowd started to disperse.

Axel took the five balls in his hands and began juggling. Once in the air, they burst into flame, which somehow didn't burn his hands as he handled them. It was an almost entrancing sight in the dying light of the late day sun dipping slowly behind the rooftops, casting long shadows across the square. Demyx quickly switched gears and started a song to accompany the flaming juggling. But while a few more people approached to toss them coins, the audience had mostly left.

"Ah well," Axel said after a minute, "It's getting late anyway. Let's pack up, Dem."

"That was a great show!" Sora chirped. "The fireworks and water thing were super cool! You guys must be real mages, huh?"

Axel gave him a sideways grin as he put the no-longer-burning balls in a bag and started rolling up their banner.

"It is entirely possible that we are indeed real live mages."

"Woa, that's so cool!"

"Traitor! Why did you mess up my mind-reader act?" Demyx asked with a frown. "You weren't supposed to remember meeting us, and then you were supposed to be really surprised that I knew all that stuff. It would have been awesome."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize. It wasn't that long ago, though, so of course I would remember that."

"Hm, well you seemed like the kind of person with a bad memory."

"My memory isn't _that_ bad."

"Yeah apparently not. Hey did you notice our new name? The 'Fire and Water Magical Music Show'! What do you think of it?"

"Yeah, it's a good name. It's fits nicely on your banner and people can remember it."

"So Sora, what have you and little Roxas been up to lately?" Axel asked. He held a finger out to the cat sitting on Sora's shoulder. Roxas sniffed it for a moment, then turned his head away.

"Oh, all kinds of things. The other day I climbed up on my roof, and that was pretty fun. I found all this weird stuff that had gotten stuck up there. And later Roxas caught this giant bug and I put it in a jar. But then I felt bad because maybe it missed being free, so I let it go."

"Sounds like you've been busy, then."

"How's your show going? Do lots of people come to see it?"

"We always draw large crowds, there's no need to worry. Soon, we'll have enough money and supplies to head out again, back to the open road." He picked up the hat full of coins and started counting. "We made a pretty good haul today."

"Where will you go when you leave?"

"Who knows? Wherever destiny takes us I guess."

"That sounds like an adventure!"

"Sure does."

"Hm. It's getting dark now, I'd better get back home for dinner."

"Alright little man, it was good seeing ya!"

Sora set out through the eastern district heading west toward home. The sun had slipped past the horizon completely and the fading light colored everything gray for the brief moment before night officially set in over the city. The lamp posts hanging over the streets were slowly starting to alight, and rows of lights glowed from inside cozy houses. A lopsided moon had risen over the clock tower and a few of the brighter stars had begun peeking through the darkening sky. The streets were mostly empty aside from a few automobiles rumbling home. Sora rode along happily, taking a few scenic detours because it was such a nice night out and he wasn't too unbearably hungry yet. Roxas perked up in the basket, enjoying the night and all its sounds and smells as well.

There was a sudden scream from somewhere up ahead that echoed through the streets, breaking the peaceful quiet of the evening. Sora stopped, listening for any other sounds, but all was silent again. The street seemed suddenly darker, as if the lamp posts had dimmed, and the emptiness of the road changed from pleasant to ominous. The bright moon had been blotted out by a strange dark cloud, despite the fact that the sky had been clear a moment ago.

"What was that?" Sora asked.

"I don't know, probably just some kids playing or something," Roxas said.

"It didn't sound like kids, it sounded like someone in trouble."

"I'm sure it's nothing. Come on, let's go home. This street is starting to creep me out."

Sora rolled slowly down the street, looking out for another sign of the person who had screamed.

"Why is this the one time you're not going fast?" Roxas complained. His fur was starting to bristle at the strange mood in the air and his pupils had grown big and round until the blue of his eyes was just a thin ring. His large ears were folded back on his head while his whiskers twitched nervously.

There was a loud crash and a scream, then the sound of running.

Sora and Roxas' heads both snapped in the direction of the noise, with Roxas' ears springing forward, and Sora turned and sped off toward it.

"No no no where are you going? Why do we always go _to_ the trouble? Why do we never go _away_ from it?" Roxas wailed.

"Someone needs our help, I can tell," Sora answered. "We can't be cowards and ignore it."

Roxas sunk down in the basket at that and made himself as small as possible.

They made quick work of several blocks when a figure burst out of an alley in front of them, running at full speed. Longish silver hair glinted in what little light there was and long limbs were covered in clearly expensive well-tailored clothing.

"Riku!" Sora shouted, surprised.

Riku skidded to a halt and turned to them. His chest was heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

"You!" he panted. "What are you doing here?"

"I was on my way home, but I heard someone scream and it sounded like they were in trouble. Was it you?"

"I didn't _scream_," Riku scoffed. "I might have _yelled_ a little—in a manly way, of course—but I didn't _scream_." He cast a worried glance behind him. "Listen, you'd better get going. There are these things coming. I got some distance between us, but they're fast, and you don't want them after you, trust me. If you leave now, they might not even notice you. They only really seem to go after me anyway. But you should go. Now." He took off running again.

"Wait! There's someone after you? Who?" Sora pedaled his bike so he was riding along-side Riku as he ran.

"Not who. What. They're these strange creatures—I don't know what they are. It's like they're made of shadows or something. But they're after me, and they're vicious, so you need to get out of here before you get hurt."

"You said they're fast?"

"_Yes! _They're _very fast_! Now _go_ already!" Riku yelled, exasperated. He started running faster, but Sora kept pace with him on his bike.

"Listen, nothing in this city except the train is faster than I am on this bike. If you want to get away from those things, you should get on my bike with me."

Riku turned his head to look at Sora like he was insane. "What! No! You have to leave! These things are monsters of some kind and—"

"Get on my bike."

The seriousness of Sora's voice caught him off guard and made him stop. Sora's eyes seemed to glow dangerously in the low light, all traces of the goofy kid having been suddenly replaced with fierce, determined resolve, making him seem much older. In that moment, Riku knew he could trust Sora with his life.

But it was a moment too long.

There was a hissing, scraping sound behind them, like hundreds of sharp nails clawing at the walls, and when they turned, they could see dark shapes seeping out of the alley Riku had run out of, rising from the shadows on the ground to form misshapen bodies. The shapes were growing, multiplying, forming long arms and legs with ferociously long claws, and hunched, twisted, deformed bodies that walked on two legs but dragged their oversized clawed hands behind them. They were black, darker than thick ink, like their bodies were a void that could move rather than a real being, and looking at them seemed to make one forget that color and light could exist. In what must have been their faces, two dots of menacing golden eyes glowed lifelessly. As they emerged from the alley, they stopped and sniffed the air. Then, all at once, their heads snapped to the side to fix Sora, Riku, and Roxas with with their terrible, empty stares.

"Get on. Sit here on this flat part above the back tire. I put packages there, so it can hold your weight. Put your feet on these bars and hold on to me and don't let go."

Riku scrambled to do what he was told. He wrapped his arms around Sora's thin waist, feeling uncomfortable with such an intimate act but knowing that this was no time for social boundaries or personal space.

"Are you on? Hold on tight."

Sora shot off with a jolt and Riku clung to him tightly as a small cry escaped his lips. They tore down the street with a speed Riku had only known in automobiles, flying past houses and trees. He chanced a look behind them and saw the monsters stampeding after them in a shadowy avalanche, running in a way that that seemed both clumsy and fluid, with their disfigured bodies galloping on their feet and knuckles, half-melting into the ground and walls. There were probably a hundred of them, all oozing and melting into each other and into their surroundings as they ran at an impossible speed. They were soundless save for a slight rustling and quiet scraping, which was perhaps more terrifying than if they had been roaring and shrieking. A hundred pairs of golden eyes glowed hungrily in the darkness. They were close. Very close. They nipped at the back tire only slightly out of their reach, snapping their claws and what might have been their teeth ferociously. Some of them were flowing quickly and shapelessly through the walls alongside them, but their long claws were just out of range.

Riku whipped his head forward and didn't look back again. He tried to ignore the dark shadows creeping into his peripheral vision.

They were flying through the city, up and down streets, through thin alleys and low tunnels, over and under bridges, making pinpoint turns and fantastic leaps over high curbs or steps, and everything around them was a frenzied blur as they passed. The wind blew their hair wildly and howled in their hears. Riku clenched his jaw to keep from screaming and Roxas was clinging to the basket with all he had, making a low keening noise that was probably involuntary. But Sora's face was serene, determined, and calm as his hands gripped the handlebars and his strong legs pumped powerfully. He knew what he was doing. He would not crash and he would outrun those monsters, whatever they were. No matter what.

Soon they left the eastern district with it's wide roads and flat terrain behind and were tearing through the southern district's narrow meandering streets and chaotic hills, the shadowy beasts at their heels. Dark claws swiped and scratched at them from all sides, but the bike always managed to swerve out of the way just in time, avoiding them by a hair's width. The turns became sharper and more frequent, born of an intimate knowledge of the area and cramped buildings. Sora didn't seem to slow at all going up the steep hills, but he shot down them in a way that made their stomachs leap with the speed. This continued on for perhaps thirty minutes, with Sora weaving his way expertly and tirelessly through the maze of roads and buildings, and Roxas and Riku fighting the urge to vomit.

"Riku, look behind us and tell me where they are."

Riku started at the sudden command, the first words that had been spoken since they'd started riding, but did as he was told. When he turned, however, all he saw were crooked buildings and dark streets. Empty streets.

"They're...They're gone! I think. There's nothing behind us," Riku exclaimed in shock.

Sora slowed to a stop and turned to look as well. He was met with silence.

"Roxas, do you hear anything? Can you hear them coming at all?" Sora asked the quivering cat in the basket. Roxas stilled and concentrated with his ears alert, straining to hear any sign of their pursuers for a tense moment. But there was nothing. He looked back up at Sora and gave a small shake of his head. Sora let out a relieved sigh and stretched his arms over his head.

"Aha we did it!" he cried. "We outran those bastards! We beat them! Of course we did! No one can keep up with me! I am the champion!" He began laughing triumphantly with his hands on his hips in a conqueror's pose.

Next to him, Riku extracted himself from the bicycle and gave a grateful sigh. His knees were only slightly shaky, he was proud to admit.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. There's no way I could have gotten away from them without you."

Sora got off the bike as well, flicked the kickstand with his foot, and started stretching his legs.

"Ah, don't worry about it, it was pretty exciting. Plus, now I've paid you back. You saved me, now I've saved you! Although, what I saved you from was definitely a lot weirder than what you saved me from, but oh well."

Riku's mouth slipped into a smile without him meaning for it to, and he tried to control it back into a frown unsuccessfully.

"Alright, so what should we do now?" Sora asked. "We've got to get back home without running into those things. I'm probably fine, but what about you? Your house is all the way on the other side of the city."

"Well, those creatures don't like light, that much I know."

"Light, huh? Well I guess they wouldn't since they're made of shadows. Hey I've got it! The train! The train is lit up inside at night. We're really close to the southern train stop, it's just around the corner. So if we just get there, you should be able to ride it all the way home."

"That's...actually a really good idea," Riku said, astonished.

"Of course it is! I always come up with great ideas!"

Roxas rolled his eyes, but no one noticed.

"Alright, just let me stretch out my legs for a sec and we can go."

And that's when a falling roof tile hit Sora hard on the head and knocked him unconscious.

* * *

**A/N: Kairi's pretty intuitive in the game. She has that weird telepathic conversation with Roxas, she knows Axel is bad news when he first arrives, and she recognizes Riku even in his gross Ansem-face. So I figured I would play with that a bit. But then i realized i fell into the old 'girls have special intuition' cliche and tried to balance it out by giving her some non-cliche characteristics, and society does not promote girls in science, so i was like 'Take that, patriarchy! See if i care!' But of course the world did not change because of it. Oh well.**

**Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think, I'm dying for feedback. Also, reviews might spur me on to finish the next chapter.**


	3. The Ice Prince's Curse

If anyone had asked Riku how he had gotten home that night, he honestly would not have been able to tell them much. All he knew was that he had somehow carried Sora, Sora's bike, and Sora's cat to the train station, which hadn't been very far at all. Once on the train, He'd found a working call box, something he had been desperately searching for before he had run into Sora, and made a call to the house. There was a car waiting at the northern station when Riku carried Sora, the bike, and the cat off the train again, and while the driver had raised his eyebrows at his young master's extra baggage, the drive to the mansion had been silent. Once home, a maid had bustled about settling Sora in one of the guest bedrooms and tending to the gash on his head.

If Riku had been forced to recount the story, there would certainly not have been any mention of the panic Riku had felt when Sora collapsed, with his mind jumping to all the worst conclusions. He would not have mentioned how the cat had howled frantically and hovered over Sora possessively, or how it had almost scratched Riku's eyes out when he had bent down to hoist Sora's body over his shoulder. He wouldn't have said anything about the relief he had felt crashing over him in a powerful, knee-weakening wave when he had finally boarded the train, so full of bright, electric light. Or the fact that he had refused to look out the dark windows but had instead kept his eyes trained on the light bulb encased in glass hanging from the train car's ceiling until he started seeing green spots. Or about how rough and uneven his breathing had been the entire ride. And he definitely would not have said anything about the fact that he had not let go of Sora, either on the train or in the car, until the boy had been placed in a bed. None of that would have made it into the story. It had all been a bit of a blur, really.

He sat in a chair that he had pulled up next to the bed in which Sora lay sleeping, elbows digging into his knees and chin resting on his knuckles. The old, plump maid who had tended to his wounds had concluded that Sora would be fine and told Riku to get some rest, but Riku needed to see for himself whether or not he would really be okay.

Sora lay peacefully under the blankets, breath soft and even and face clear of any sign of trouble or discomfort, with a bandage wrapped neatly around his head. The small lamp on the bedside table cast a soft warm light over him in a way that seemed to slowly loosen some of the tight knots in Riku's stomach. The cat was curled on his chest, one open blue eye kept warily on Riku. He refused to be unnerved by that, of course. Because Riku did not let cats intimidate him.

At last, he had to admit that there was nothing more he could do for Sora, and that he really should go to bed. He stood up from his chair but lingered over the sleeping boy. He moved his hand to brush one of the wild brown locks that had fallen into Sora's eyes, an impulsive urge that he couldn't quell. But before his hand reached Sora's face, the cat sprung up, standing over Sora protectively and growling fiercely at him. Riku flinched and took a step back. The cat seemed suddenly bigger than it had been before, perhaps the size of a large bobcat, and its canines glinted fearsomely. But that had to be Riku's imagination. He really did need some sleep.

Riku turned and left the room, pausing for a moment in the doorway to glance back at the sleeping boy and the now definitely normal-sized cat before turning out the light and softly closing the door.

* * *

Sora awoke to a fluffy bed and a headache. The bed was comfortable, if unfamiliar, and for the first few minutes after Sora gained consciousness, he simply basked in the sensation of being completely consumed by a soft mattress and a down comforter. His own bed was like sleeping on a wooden board compared to this one. When he finally sat up, something which took quite a bit more effort than usual with his headache complaining the whole way, he found that not only was the bed ridiculously comfy, it was also ridiculously huge. The pristine white blankets seemed to go on forever, and there was an unnecessarily large number of pillows surrounding him. On one of these pillows, curled up in a small furry yellow ball, was Roxas. The rest of the room was just as extravagant as the bed, with a high ceiling, gleaming hardwood floor, elegant furniture, and large window through which blue sky and puffy clouds could be seen. The walls were as white as the bed, embellished with gold trimming where they met the ceiling, and decorated with a number of paintings of fruit in flamboyant golden frames. Sora had never seen so many paintings of fruit before.

All in all, Sora had absolutely no idea where he was. He remembered Riku, and he remembered the monsters, and he remembered getting away from the monsters, and then...his head hurt. He prodded his head gingerly to find linen bandages, and further exploration resulted in the discovery of a painful bump that had him hissing at the contact.

With nothing better to do and still not enough motivation to leave the snug nest of the bed, he started petting the sleeping cat beside him softly. Roxas stirred and opened his blue eyes a sliver. Sora smiled at him and scratched his chin until he purred.

"Good morning," Roxas mumbled. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. My head hurts a little, but it'll go away soon enough."

Roxas closed his eyes again and rolled over onto his back, allowing Sora to scratch his soft white belly. They continued like this for a peaceful moment somehow immune to the ongoing movement of time, until Sora remembered that he still didn't know where he was. He figured Roxas might know, though, so he asked him. Roxas usually knew things practical things like that.

"We are in a guest bedroom in the Jenova mansion. Riku brought us here after a dirt sprite hit you with a roof tile and knocked you unconscious."

"A _what_!" Sora shrieked.

Roxas rolled back over and stood up with a meticulous stretch—first his front legs, then his back legs— and a wide yawn. Once finished, he sat down again on the pillow and neatly curled his tail over his front paws.

"A dirt sprite hit you with a roof tile when we were in the southern district after we lost those monsters," he repeated.

"I can't _believe_ it!" Sora fumed, his cheeks puffing up in outrage. "Those stupid bastards, getting me while I was off my bike! That is low, even for them. I told you they had me marked out! Didn't I tell you? They've been trying to get me all this time but they never could. And to get me when I was off my bike like that! They couldn't get me while I was moving, so they took the coward's way out! Oh I bet whichever one it was that hit me thinks he's such a big shot, now. I bet all his little dirt sprite friends think he's so cool. Oh that makes me _so mad_! I _can't believe_ it!"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Sora. If they got you, they got you. No one said the dirt sprites had rules."

"Yeah, but I thought they had _pride_!"

There was a light knock on the door before it opened and a maid in an apron and a pale pink dress stepped inside pushing a cart full of food dishes.

"Good morning, Sir, I have brought you some breakfast," she said with her head bowed politely.

"Kairi!" Sora called, his face erupting into a terrific smile.

Surprised, Kairi looked up from her bow to gape at him.

"Sora! What the heck are _you_ doing here?"

"I dunno. I just woke up and here I was."

Kairi stared at him with wide eyes, her mouth working unsuccessfully to form a sentence.

"Anyway, is that food for me?" Sora asked eagerly, straining his neck to get a better look at the dishes on the cart. His stomach gave an excited rumble as the smell drifted over to him. Roxas was peering over to see as well, his small nose twitching with anticipation.

That snapped Kairi out of her confusion enough. The obligation to do her job outweighed the confusion. "Oh! Right. Here you go." She rolled the cart over to the bed, set a small tray on Sora's lap, and started piling it with food. Plates full of fluffy pastries, steaming eggs, juicy sausages, and fresh fruit stood no chance against Sora's appetite, and he devoured his way through the mounds of food and gulped down glasses of juice in stomach-expanding bliss. It was a messy affair, with grabby hands in more places at once than seemed possible, and food bits flying everywhere in the carnage. It was also a noisy process, as Sora seemed to make an array of delighted chewing sounds with every bite he took. Roxas had snatched a few rolls of sausage away before they disappeared, and was guarding his capture bravely as he tore into them like a fresh kill.

Kairi took a seat on the edge of the bed, unsure if she should be disgusted by the utter lack of manners, or appreciative that they were clearly enjoying the food. She decided that she was mostly just amused by the show, a refreshing (if mildly disturbing) break from the high-strung manners of the elite. She poured some milk into a saucer and placed it in front of Roxas. He blinked up at her suspiciously but decided that there were probably no ulterior motives and started lapping it up with his small tongue darting out in quick pink flashes.

"So Sora, why exactly are you here? I was told this morning to bring breakfast to a guest of Master Riku's who had been injured somehow. I had no idea it was you, of course. What happened? Tell me everything!"

"Well," Sora began around a mouthful of raspberry tart, "last night I ran into Riku, and he was being chased by these crazy shadow monster things. They were super scary and weird, I don't know what their deal was. But Riku got on my bike with me, and I rode around real fast and managed to shake 'em off our tail since I am the fastest bike-rider in the world. Obviously. But then these cowardly dirt sprites who have a vendetta against me because they are jealous hit me with a roof tile. Then I woke up here, and then you came in, and now I'm eating breakfast and it's delicious." He smiled at her with a face covered in crumbs and smears of food residue. There was a small fleck of jelly above his eyebrow that Kairi found particularly puzzling.

"Dirt sprites, huh?" Kairi said with a sympathetic grimace as she handed him a napkin. "In the southern district? Yeah, I've heard they can be real trouble down there. How's your head? Mrs. Potts said you didn't need stitches or anything—Oh! She gave me this compress! Here, it should help with the swelling." She dug out a cold cloth bag filled with ice from the cart and set it on Sora's head. He shivered when it touched him, but it was soothing. "How does your head feel?"

"Oh, it's alright. It only hurts a little bit now. This cold thing is helping."

"Good. Mrs. Potts didn't think you had a concussion or anything. But head injuries can be tricky. Especially since you're telling me this bizarre story about monsters chasing you. Maybe I should have her check you after all."

"No no no! That part is totally true! You can ask Riku, he was there, he'll tell you. They were these scary shadow monsters, and they were chasing us all around! I don't know why they wanted Riku, but we got away in the end. I don't really care if you believe me or not, but it's true."

Kairi scrunched her face up in uncertainty, "Well it's certainly a _strange_ story. _Shadow_ monsters?"

"Yeah, they were made out of shadows and had these glow-y eyes and big claws. There were a lot of them." He spoke in a matter-of-fact sort of way, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and he was concerned that Kairi wasn't understanding. Of _course_ shadow monsters were made of shadows. What else would they be made out of?

"I've never heard of anything like that before. Master Riku didn't say anything about being chased by monsters as far as I know. Not that the Ice Prince really says much to anyone anyway, but still, that sounds like something worth mentioning. And yet..." Kairi paused in thought.

Sora went back to inhaling what remained of the food, which was clearly his priority. Roxas had gotten bolder and was now eating directly off the plates, but Sora didn't seem to mind at all.

"Hm, well, as bizarre as your story is, I don't think you're lying." Kairi tapped her finger on her chin pensively.

"Your superpowers again?"

"Yeah. You're still all bright and shiny. Normally when someone lies, a big lie, I mean, they feel kind of gray and leave a weird aftertaste in my mouth." She cocked her to the side and considered him with eyebrows drawn and lips pressed into a thin line. "Alright," she concluded with the gravity of a court judge passing a sentence. "I've decided that I believe you. If you say you were chased by shadow monsters, then I believe it. Even if it sounds crazy."

"Okay," Sora shrugged, unconcerned.

"Besides, some weird things have been happening around the mansion lately."

That got his attention. "Really? Like what? Mysterious things?" There were few things Sora loved more than a good mystery.

"Kind of. There's this maid who works here. Her name is Namine. And she's always very quiet and polite but...there's just something about her."

"Like the bad feeling you get from that Xehanort guy?"

"Mm, not exactly. With him, there's this dark feeling that sort of sucks away happiness. But with Namine...it feels like she doesn't belong here. I always have a gray feeling about her, like she's lying all the time about something. I know that she's worked here for years, she was here before I started working here. I _know_ that, I _remember_ that. Everyone does. But I feel like those memories...there's something wrong about them."

"That sounds even crazier than the shadow monsters," Sora chuckled.

"Yeah, I know!" Kairi said with an embarrassed laugh. "That's what everyone says. No one believes me when I say something is weird about Namine. And I only got this feeling about her a few days ago, too, which makes it even weirder for me. I don't know why I never noticed it before, since I've known her for years."

"Mysterious indeed. We should definitely get to the bottom of this!"

"You think so?"

"Yeah, why not? What if she's up to something? We should follow her around, maybe. See what she's up to. It could be fun. We could use science!"

"How would we use science?"

"I don't know. You're the scientist, you think of something."

"I'll do my best!" Kairi pounded her fist into her hand in determination. Sora's enthusiasm was contagious, and she was grateful to have finally found someone who didn't laugh away her concerns about Namine.

There was a knock on the door for the second time that morning, and when it opened, another maid poked her head around the door.

"Excuse me, Sir, I need to speak with Kairi," she said.

"Oh, Olette! This is my friend Sora. He's the one I told you about who brought me the package." Kairi waved her over from her seat on the bed. "Sora, this is Olette. She's one of my roommates."

Olette brightened and stepped all the way into the room. She was taller than Kairi was, and perhaps a bit lankier, with green eyes and dark brown hair pulled into a tight bun underneath her maid's cap. Her apron, stockings, and shoes were identical to Kairi's, but her dress was a light orange.

"Hi there! I'm Sora!"

"Hello Sora. Nice to meet you. Say, did you _really_ force the Ice Prince to be your friend and give him chocolate?"

"Yeah, sure I did. He's so funny."

Olette laughed, a pleasant, fluttery sound. "I can't believe it! The Ice Prince is always so mean to everyone, I wish I could have been there to see that! Even _he_ must have a heart in there somewhere."

Sora offered her the last apple on his plate, which she accepted with a delighted smile.

"So Kairi, I came to tell you that Pence came back from town and brought back a new record for his phonograph. He, Selphie, Hayner and I were going to listen to it and play card games for a bit since we all have the day off. Do you want to come? This was your only duty today, right?"

Kairi bit her lip in consideration. "Does Hayner have to be there?"

"You know he and Pence are best friends, of course he would be there. I don't know what you're always complaining about. Hayner is really funny."

"Well _I_ don't think he's particularly funny."

"Aw come on! Is this because he was teasing you the other day? He didn't mean anything by it, it was just for fun!"

"He's _always_ teasing me," Kairi insisted. "It's annoying. I don't care how nice you or Pence keep saying he is, he's always mean to _me_. I'm not going if he's there."

Olette was crestfallen. "But we never all have the day off together! It's only this once since the Jenovas went to that meeting with those snobs from Alexandria all day. Come on, I'll make him promise to stop bugging you!" Kairi didn't look convinced, though, so Olette turned her strategy to Sora. "Hey! Do you want to come with us? It'll be fun! People Kairi likes are always great, so I'm sure you'll get along with everyone!"

"And the people I _don't_ like always turn out to be bad," Kairi shot.

"Well you are wrong just this once! Hayner is a lot of fun once you get to know him!" Kairi made a face at the bedspread. "So, Sora, do you want to come? Pence's phonograph is really cool, he saved up for a while to get it."

"Maybe next time. I have to find Riku, and then I should go home. Cloud might be worried about me. Do you know where Riku is?"

There was a palpable pause in the room, where both girls forgot about their small argument to share an uncertain expression. "Yeah, he's probably where he always is, but..." Kairi bit her lip and looked away, thinking about how to word the sentence as if it pained her. "He said to tell you when you woke up that he didn't want to talk to you. He said to say he was busy. That's what he told Mrs. Potts, and Mrs. Potts told me." Once she'd gotten it out, her eyes flicked back searchingly to Sora's face, hoping he wouldn't take it too badly.

"Oh, is he in that meeting you were talking about, too? The one the Jenovas were going to?"

"No, he doesn't go to meetings like that since he's not Sephiroth's son."

"But you know where he is, right?"

"Well, yeah but..."

"I'll just go see him anyway. It's no big deal. Just show me where he is."

"But he deliberately said not to let you see him."

"That's okay, I wont tell him you told me. But if you don't tell me, that's fine, too. I'll just go look for him myself."

The idea of Sora and his cat wandering the mansion, possibly breaking things, running around the rooms, and causing all kinds of mischief was enough to make up their minds. So while Olette went off to enjoy her records and her cards games with her friends, Kairi removed his bandages, declared his head to be fine, and led him to the east wing, up the tower, and down a long hallway. They stopped at a door that looked the same as every other fine mahogany door in the mansion—though it clearly _wasn't_ the same because, as Kairi informed him in a hushed voice, _this_ was the room where Riku spent all of his free time when he wasn't taking lessons from his tutor or in his bedroom. Kairi said a quick goodbye full of promises to meet again and make plans about solving the Namine mystery, and wandered off as Sora opened the door.

The room proved to be a small library of sorts, with walls lined with bookshelves that stretched from the floor to the high ceiling. Several plush couches and chairs, all in green, sat around the room, mostly crowded by the fireplace, which looked large enough for Sora to stand in comfortably. Above the marble mantle was a portrait of a family, a dashing man with dark hair and a fantastic mustache standing behind a lovely woman with long silver hair holding a small baby in her lap, all gazing benevolently over the room. A phonograph sat on a table in one corner, it's polished head splayed like a flower's petals, playing a soft, melancholy piano melody. A glittery chandelier hung from the ceiling and two tall lamps stood by chairs in corners of the room, but most of the light came from the arched window large enough to take up half of one wall. The window protruded from the room slightly in a rounded curve, making space for the long cushioned bench seat beneath it. Sitting on this bench seat, leaning against the side of the wall with his knees drawn up, was Riku. He was holding a book, though he appeared to have forgotten about it in favor of looking out the window over the sunny courtyard. He seemed not to have heard Sora come in, but he looked up when the door closed again.

"I thought I told someone to tell you that I was busy." His scowl was firmly in place, but it was ineffective at warding Sora off, much to his consternation. Sora continued ambling toward him, looking around the room curiously, with his cat trotting along behind him.

"This is a pretty nice room. Are all these books yours?" Sora inspected a shelf, eyes roaming over the numerous book spines and titles. There were probably hundreds of books, nestled together like close friends, some old and faded and some newer and more polished, but all with fine bindings and not a speck of dust. Roxas jumped up onto one of the shelves, sniffing the books and rubbing his cheek on the ones he found suitable.

"Of course they're all mine. Who else would they belong to?" Riku scoffed.

Sora seemed to take no offense to this, and went on with his exploration. He was by the phonograph now, watching the small record spin to produce the sombre, pensive music. The song ended, but another one began just as gloomy as the first. Sora stuck his hand in the mouth of the phonograph experimentally.

"Don't touch that, you'll break it!" Sora looked up innocently but moved away. "Go away, I don't want to talk to you," Riku tried again. But again, Sora seemed to ignore this.

"Why were those shadow monsters chasing you?" Sora asked, absorbed now with a small bronze bust of a ugly man sitting on the mantle. It was asked in an offhanded way, almost like an afterthought, but it was the one question that Riku had been dreading. Sora looked up when he didn't answer. Riku was scowling at his book, mouth clamped shut stubbornly. The silence stretched, and Riku made the mistake of glancing over at Sora, only to find calm blue eyes watching him with a quiet, patient gaze, waiting for his answer. And then something inside Riku crumbled a little. He wasn't sure why, but it probably had something to do with the memory of the way that face had looked when he'd ordered Riku to get on his bike the night before, and the determined way he had risked his life to save him. And it probably also had something to do with the endlessly understanding expression in those big blue eyes. Like he could take anything Riku decided to throw at him, and he would just _listen_. Which was an oddity Riku never experienced. No one ever wanted to just _listen_, there was always something more they were after. But not Sora. If anyone deserved a few answers, it was Sora.

"I...I'm not really sure why they were chasing me," he admitted in a low voice. "They've been doing it for a while now. Sometimes they just appear out of the darkness when the sun sets and come after me, I never know when it's going to happen. But when they catch me, which they always do, I can't remember the rest of the night and I wake up in my bed the next morning, no matter where I was when they caught me. Last night...last night was the only time I've ever gotten away from them."

"So you don't know why they come after you? Or where they come from? That sounds like a pretty big mystery!" Sora's eyes lit up with the possibilities of a mystery so strange. "How come you haven't told anyone about it?"

The line of Riku's mouth twisted unhappily. "I just...I didn't want to. I didn't want to get my uncle involved, and I don't want to talk to my cousins. I just decided that it didn't really matter. There's probably nothing they can do about it. It's because of my curse, anyway. Anyone who got involved would just get hurt."

Sora's face was absolutely shining with excitement now. "A _cruse_! What kind of curse?"

Riku's sharp frown was back and he glared at Sora. "I don't have to tell you. Just go away already. I'm grateful you saved me from the monsters, but you should go now." He made a point of turning the page of his book and reading, trying to dismiss his unwanted guest.

"Nope. I'm staying until I hear about the curse!" Sora sat in a chair facing the window with the air of someone settling down for a long time. Roxas jumped into on his lap and curled up. The two of them watched Riku expectantly. That expression was back again, the endlessly empathetic one.

Riku closed his eyes, ground his teeth in frustration, and said nothing, refusing to look at the pair. But his resolve did not last long.

"Fine!" he grit out unwillingly. "I'll tell you. Then you _have_ to leave, okay?" Sora nodded eagerly. Riku gave a defeated sigh before continuing. He'd already started his confession, something he had kept bottled up for so very long, and now that it had been let loose even slightly, the words seemed to tumble out of him without his consent, as if they were relieved to finally be free. "When I was little, an old wizard who had a grudge against my father put a curse on me, so that whoever I care about, or whoever cares about me would always come to great pain. My parents thought nothing of it, because my father was a powerful mage and he was much stronger than the old wizard, but..." Riku broke off, gazing mournfully into memories. After a moment, it seemed like he would not continue.

"But?" Sora prompted.

Riku shook his head as if trying to free himself of whatever sad visions had gotten hold of him. "But then, a couple years later, they died in a terrible train accident." he said at last. "It was my fault. They were in another city for some kind of business my father was doing and had been gone a long time, but I asked them to come back because I missed them. I was a selfish child. I cried and threw tantrums and there was nothing any of the servants could do. If they hadn't gotten on that train, then maybe they would have been okay. But maybe the curse would have found another way to kill them." Riku took a deep breath before he spoke again. This was not something he had ever admitted to any other living being before, but something told Riku that he could trust Sora. Even if he didn't want to. "When they died, my uncle took me in. My mother was his younger sister, though I don't think they were very close. I never got along well with my cousins, and my uncle usually ignores me, but my aunt was always kind and she cared for me. But then, not long after I arrived, she got sick. There was an epidemic in the city, and a lot of people were sick, but by the time they found a cure, it was too late for my aunt. And ever since then, any friend I make always gets hurt somehow, or something bad happens to them because of me. The monsters are probably just another part of the curse that developed recently." Riku balled his hands into tight fists and glared at the pages of his book. "So that's why I can't be your friend. People can call me the Ice Prince and make fun of me for being so cold all they want. I don't care. People who care about me always get hurt. Even you. You got hurt because of me—because you saved me."

"That's not true. I got hurt because those stupid dirt sprites are jealous of my talented bike riding. They've been trying to hit me for a while now, but they've always missed. So they discarded their dirt sprite pride and hit me while I was standing instead." Just the thought of the dirt sprites had Sora scowling again.

"Well you wouldn't have been standing there if it weren't for me."

Sora shrugged. "I guess not. But you can't go blaming yourself for every small thing. That was just a coincidence."

"No," Riku snapped furiously. "It was the curse. You don't know anything about it, so don't act like you do. I've told you what you wanted to know, now leave. If you don't, I'll call a butler to kick you out."

Sora considered the angry boy in front of him, the way his glare now contained more venom than it had just a moment ago and the pain only thinly veiled in the lines of his face. He picked Roxas up off his lap and stood from the chair.

"Alright. I'll go," he said simply. "But I wont stop being your friend. You don't scare me." Then his face broke into his usual charming smile. "I'll find a way to break your curse, I promise. Then you wont have to be so sad anymore." He turned and left the room, leaving an infuriated Riku fuming behind him.

* * *

When Sora arrived back at the shop that afternoon, Cloud had started giving a quite obviously prepared and rehearsed speech about informing others of his whereabouts and not making others worry. Cloud always tried his best to come off as gruff and uncaring, and constantly told Sora that he was not responsible for him and didn't care what he did, but secretly (though a very poorly-kept secret) Cloud sometimes felt that Sora was the little brother he never had. And so, when Sora failed to return from his deliveries the night before, he had been stricken with worry and panic. The speech was cut short, however, when Sora explained what had happened. He told him about Riku and the monsters chasing them, and about getting hit by a roof tile from the dirt sprites, much in the way he'd explained it to Kairi that morning. Out of all of Sora's strange stories, this one was probably the most outlandish, and Cloud had no idea how to react. So he decided, as with all of the strange things Sora told him, to simply let it pass with a dubious frown.

Sora skipped off upstairs to wash up and change his clothes before he got to work. Cloud had already delivered most of the packages that day himself on his motorcycle, so Sora's list was quite a bit shorter than usual. About an hour later, when he finished the deliveries and locked his bike back in the garage, he found Tifa chatting amicably with Cloud in the office.

Tifa owned and operated the bar down the street, and had been Cloud's close friend since childhood. She was a pretty, buxom woman with long dark hair and dark, almond-shaped eyes, as quick to make a joke as she was to punch somebody, and fond of teasing the ever-grumpy Cloud. When Sora walked in, she was leaning against the desk with her arms crossed over her chest and her head thrown back in laughter, and Cloud, sitting at the desk, was smiling one of his rare smiles. When Tifa noticed Sora, she grinned at him.

"Hey there, I heard you had quite an adventure last night."

"Yeah I did!"

"Well you had Cloud here the most worried I've ever seen him. He called the bar every hour just to ask if you'd been by."

"I did not!" Cloud protested. "I only called once!"

"Please, you big softie, don't bother trying to cover it up! We all know you're secretly a mother hen."

Cloud grumbled something under his breath that they couldn't quite hear, and Tifa only laughed louder.

"So Sora," she started again once she had calmed a bit, "if you aren't busy disappearing off into the night, how about you come to the bar for dinner tonight? I've convinced Cloud somehow, and Aerith and Zack are coming, too. So, whatta ya say? I know Yuffie's been missing you lately."

"Yeah, that sounds good! Can I have your sweet potato fries?"

"I'll make a whole batch just for you! Be there at six."

Six o'clock rolled around and Sora and Cloud arrived at Tifa's bar, a gray building with the name 'Seventh Heaven' displayed proudly above the door. It was larger inside than it seemed from the outside, with tables scattered about, booths up against the walls, and a large bar toward the back. There was low lighting, but still enough to see that the bar was not busy since it was only six o'clock on a weekday.

Noticing their arrival, a short girl with short black hair and large dark eyes wearing a waitress's apron over a tank top and shorts bounced over to them.

"Sora! Cloudy! You're here!" she cheered, tackling them both with hugs.

"Hi Yuffie!" Sora easily matched the girl's enthusiasm. "Long time no see!"

"It has been _way_ too long! You need to visit more! Otherwise, who will eat all of our food? No one! Then we'll have to give it to paying customers! And that would be such a waste. Where's Roxas?"

"He's staying home. He was tired and thought going to a dinner would be too loud for him."

"Oh no! His poor kitty ears! Well that's fine, the party must go on! Come on, we're eating in the back room." They followed her back behind the bar to the dining room usually reserved for private parties.

It seemed that Sora and Cloud were the last to arrive, because sitting at the table were Aerith and Zack. Aerith, the owner of the flower shop across the street from Cloud's Delivery, had long, light brown hair tied back in a braid with a large pink bow, and long bangs falling to either side of her face. She had kind blue eyes and a warm, knowing smile. Beside her sat her husband, Zack. He had been an army officer before retiring due to a severe leg wound that still caused him trouble, but he was still built as if he fought for a living, with impressive muscles rivaled only by Cloud's. These days, he worked with Aerith in her flower shop, and was enjoying every minute of it. He had shaggy black hair and bright blue eyes set in an angular face, and an energetic smile that made him look years younger. When Cloud and Sora walked in, they both stood to embrace their friends in greeting.

Tifa brought out the food from the kitchen, and soon they were all gathered and eating away happily. Zack launched into a story about how a customer at the flower shop earlier that day had tried to return a bouquet of flowers he had bought because the girl he had tried giving them to had rejected him, and had then proceeded to break down in tears in the middle of the store while Aerith and Zack tried to comfort him. Yuffie responded with a story of her own about how Tifa had thrown a guy out of the bar for grabbing her ass.

"The look on his face when she started kicking his ass!" she cackled. "And after she threw him out—literally _threw_ him, this big guy—all his greasy friends ran away, leaving super big tips because they were so afraid!" They all laughed while Tifa huffed, nose in the air.

"Well they got what they deserved. If they think they can treat me like that just because I'm serving them alcohol, then they've got another thing coming." Everyone agreed heartily, cursing rude men with roaming hands.

"Speaking of alcohol, pour me another one! This glass is too empty!" Zack called merrily.

"Don't be so pessimistic, you could say that the glass is partly full," Aerith teased.

"Well either way, there's more room for beer!" Tifa poured more refills all around.

They continued laughing, eating, drinking, and telling more funny stories. They were curious to hear Sora's odd tale about the shadow monsters and his new friend's curse, and everyone spent a while thinking up wild ways to break a curse. The consensus was that the only person who would know anything about breaking curses would be a mage, because you would need magic for a thing like that. Then Sora sung for them the jingle he had come up with for the delivery shop, which was a big hit. Inspired, Yuffie and Zack tried coming up with jingles of their own for the bar and flower shop.

"So Cloud! When are you gonna get yourself a girlfriend, huh?" Zack laughed with a jostle of his friend's shoulder.

Cloud sunk down in his chair with a grumble as a blush spread across his cheeks. He took a large bite of his chicken, trying to avoid an answer.

"Yeah, c'mon, a stud like you shouldn't be single for so long! You need to get yourself some steady lovin', then we can see that smile more often, instead of just when we get you drunk," Tifa joined.

"I'm not drunk," Cloud protested.

"Well then we need to fix that, don't we? Drink up! And have some more of that pasta, I worked hard on that sauce, and Sora's already inhaled half of it."

"Oh _I_ know why Cloud doesn't have a girlfriend," Aetith said with a sly smile, her eyes twinkling mischievously. Cloud shot her a murderous look, but the smile only grew. "It's because he wants a _boy_friend instead."

"Oho _really_?" Zack exclaimed with a sly smile of his own. "Well I _never_ would have guessed! I've never seen you with anyone for as long as I've known you, so how could I have known?"

Cloud muttered something into his beer glass, face now the color of a tomato.

"Tifa, you've known Cloud the longest, have you ever seen him with anyone?" Yuffie asked.

"Let's see, let's see," she said, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Ah, yes! Of course, how could I possibly forget!" Her face brightened in an almost malicious way, and Cloud only sunk further into his chair.

"Oh come on, this is really not important, I think we should talk about something else now," Cloud moaned.

"Nope, there's no getting out of this one!" Yuffie laughed. "Tell us everything Tifa! All the juicy details!"

"Well!" she began. "This was a long time ago—years ago—before the delivery shop, when Cloud here was still a mercenary for hire—"

"What!" Yuffie and Sora shrieked in shock. "When the heck were you a mercenary!"

"Years ago, like I just said. Come on, you guys really didn't know that?" Yuffie and Sora shook theirs heads, eyes wide and considering Cloud in a new light.

"Aerith and I knew that," Zack said. "Cloud, the great assassin for hire!"

"Well I guess that explains a lot," Yuffie mused. "No normal business man is quite as scary looking as you are."

"It also explains why he has all those swords in his room. I thought maybe he just had them for decoration," Sora added with a nod. "I always thought it was a strange decoration choice."

"Yeah, I was a mercenary," Cloud admitted, hoping that maybe this new information would instill some respect into his willful employee. "Sometimes nobles in other cities would hire me to take out enemies, and sometimes corporations and businesses would pay me to clean up their messes. There was this one environmentalist group that I did a lot of work for, mostly threatening people into not polluting rivers and forests. They were an odd group."

"Yes yes," Tifa broke in. "You were very scary and had lots of weapons. _Anyway_, back to the story. So at some point during his fearsome career as a killing machine, Cloud managed to fall _madly in love_ with this army lieutenant."

"I was _not_ madly in love with him, don't be ridiculous."

"No, _you_ don't be ridiculous! I remember when you were with him, and that, my friend, was madly in love!"

"So what happened?" Aerith asked.

"Well, it was a forbidden love, of course. Because being a mercenary is technically illegal, even though governments hired him. Any work he did for nobles was always hushed up, and no one would ever admit to hiring an assassin. It would be a terrible scandal—Nobles have lost power over things like that, you know. So he and this army lieutenant had a secret affair. It went on for years, on again, off again, yadda yadda. Because the lieutenant didn't like that Cloud was a mercenary, and he didn't like having a secret affair or doing anything illegal. But Cloud refused to quit. I mean, that was his life, you know? It's not easy to just quite something like that. And the lieutenant refused to quit being in the army, too. And eventually, even though he was madly in love with Cloud, the lieutenant broke it off, because they both chose their career over love!"

Yuffie and Sora gasped.

"Oh how tragic! A classic romantic tragedy! Oh Cloud, I had no idea!" Aerith cried.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter, it was years ago," Cloud muttered gloomily.

"What was his name?" Sora asked.

"Oh gosh, what was it..." Tifa mused. "Oh yes! His name was Squall. Squall something. I only met him a few times, but I remember he was really just—he was _dashing_."

"Dashing?"

"Yes, that's the only word for him. He was this handsome, dashing, rugged man."

"I can think of a few different words for him," Cloud grumbled darkly, taking a deep gulp of his drink.

"Squall, huh? Hey y'know, there's a Squall in the Jenova army. General Squall Leonhart. He was promoted from lieutenant right before I retired. That can't be the guy, could it?" Zack asked.

"Oh my god that's him! Squall Leonhart! He's in this city? How could I have not known? Well, it was so long ago, and Cloud and I have both moved around a lot since then. Cloud! Did you know he was in Nomura?"

"Yeah, I knew. How could I possibly forget? This was the city he chose over me. But who cares? It's a big city, it's not like I ever run into him. I moved to Nomura because there were job opportunities. He could go fuck himself for all I care."

Zack gave a loud, barking laugh. "Wow, Cloud, tell us how you _really_ feel!"

"Alright!" Aerith cheered, more than a little tipsy. "Let's have a toast to Cloud and his classically tragic love story! May he get a date soon!"

Everyone except Cloud raised their glasses with a resounding "May he get a date soon!" and took a gulp of their drink. Cloud mumbled something that might have been "I've been with other people since then..." but no one was paying attention.

As the night progressed and more beer was consumed, the group started discussing politics, loudly and drunkenly arguing about whether or not they were going to war, or whose fault it was if they did.

"My argument is this!" Zack said, leaning heavily into Aerith's side and waving his glass around for emphasis. "We might not even have a choice about it, you know? Sephiroth could be a saint and it still wouldn't stop Brahne from invading. She wants land and she wants money, and Nomura's got it. So we should just prepare ourselves and protect ourselves, right?"

"Not at all!" cried Tifa. "Sephiroth and those little shit sons of his are totally egging her on. They _want_ her to invade." There was some outburst of argument against this, but she continued on. "No, listen! They went to Alexandria about a week ago, and the youngest son— Kadaj, I think his name is—what does he do when he meets Brahne's daughter? He spits at her feet! Literally _spits_ at her _feet_. Well, maybe not right _at_ her feet, I heard it was kind of to the side—"

"I heard he just coughed, but everyone got all upset because it sounded like he said something insulting when he coughed."

"Well either way, totally asking for trouble!"

"No no no, if anyone is egging anyone on, it's Brahne," Cloud insisted. "I mean, have you heard about the tariffs she put up against Nomura? Like she's trying to dry up our economy. It costs a fortune trying to ship something to or from Alexandria now."

"Plus," Yuffie added, "I heard that she's started drafting mages into the army."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, every mage in any territory even remotely under Alexandria's control has to join the army. No exceptions. If that's not getting ready for an invasion, I don't know what is."

"Well it's not like Sephiroth is trying to stop her. The had a meeting today, trying to make decisions about tariffs and trade routes, but I heard that they couldn't even agree on anything. Small things like that! I mean, they weren't even talking about control of the country-side or mines or the villages between the cities. Sephiroth is being just as unreasonable as Brahne!"

"I just wish they could work something out," Aerith sighed. "War would be terrible. So many people would get hurt, and nothing would even get accomplished."

"Aw, my sweet little pacifist wife!" Zack cooed, placing a sloppy kiss on her cheek. The argument quickly dissolved into meaningless, drunken babble, which then dissolved further into laughter as they realized how ridiculous they were all being. Dessert was served, a delicious chocolate cake brought by Aerith, and soon everyone was heading home after a night well-spent, heads spinning and smiles wide.

* * *

Sora was quieter than usual the next day, prompting Roxas to ask him if something was the matter.

"Are you hungover, or is something actually on your mind?"

"I don't know what to do about Riku's curse," Sora answered.

"You mean you're serious about trying to break the curse? I thought you were just saying that."

"Of course I'm serious! You shouldn't joke about breaking curses."

"No, of course not. Forgive me for forgetting that common courtesy," Roxas said dryly.

"I just don't know what to do. Maybe if I could find the wizard who cursed him, I could ask him to take it back."

"You could try, but Riku said the wizard was really old when it happened, so he might even be dead by now."

"That's no help, then. If only we knew a mage. Last night Zack and Aerith said that a mage might know what to do."

"What about those idiot street performers? They're mages, aren't they?"

Sora lit up. "Of course! Why didn't I think of them? Let's go find them!"

"How about after lunch?"

"Oh, right, that's important, too."

So after lunch, Sora and Roxas set out in search of the Fire and Water Magical Music Show. They found Axel eventually, walking down a street in the western district, buttoned up in his long black coat. Sora waved him down, and Axel gave him his crooked grin.

"Why if it isn't the boy wonder and his little fuzzball. Funny how I keep running into you."

"I was looking all over for you!"

"Oh really?" he asked, thin eyebrows raised. "I'm so flattered. And what exactly can I help you with that would have you searching for me so desperately?"

"I have a question—actually it's more of an issue that I need help with—and I need a mage's help."

"An issue, huh? Sounds time consuming. I'm not sure if I'm the most helpful guy around."

"Please please please? I promise it wont be time consuming! As un-time-consuming as possible! Where's Demyx?"

"Demyx is busy meeting an old friend of his. I don't expect to hear from him for the rest of the day. So what's this un-time-consuming issue/question of yours?"

"It's just that this friend of mine is under a curse and I want to help him. So I was wondering if you might know anything about how to break a curse."

Axel's eyebrows leapt even higher. "A cruse? Who on earth would _you_ know that's under a curse?" Axel sighed and shook his head. "Curses are tricky things, not easily dealt with. This is probably the most time consuming thing you could have asked me."

"Can you tell me anything? Anything at all would help!"

Axel made a reluctant expression, which melted slightly at the puppy dog eyes Sora was giving him. He noticed the cat seemed to be giving him the same look, and there was no resisting both those pairs of eyes at once.

"Alright alright. I'll see what I can do. I'm not promising anything, but I'll hear you out. Now, what kind of curse is it?"

Sora's smile was brilliant and blinding. "It's my friend Riku. He says that when he was little, this old guy cursed him so that anyone he cares about or who cares about him gets hurt or dies."

"Sounds like a pretty terrible curse to have."

"So do you know anything? Anything at all! Or do you think Demyx might know?"

"Demyx would be even more useless to you than anything. Hm...A curse making anyone who you care about get hurt or die...Tricky tricky. That's gotta be some spell, I'm not sure I've ever heard of one like that. Most curses I know involve turning someone into something, but to be able to hurt _other_ people just because they care about you...They've messed with the heart somehow. And the heart is not something that should be tampered with. A powerful yet fragile organ. Very complex. Very complex indeed."

"So? Can you help? Pleeeeeease?" The puppy dog face was back.

"Well aside from your friend going off and becoming a hermit, the only way to break a thing like that would probably need a special kind of heart-mending magic. But I'm sorry to tell you, kid, that's not my specialty."

Sora's expression was more crestfallen and heartbreaking than Axel had feared.

"What do you mean it's not your specialty?"

"Well, kid, I don't know how much you know about magic, but every mage has a specialty. We learn all the basics—matter swapping, property changing, space manipulation, things like that. But every mage has one particular specialty that they are strongest at. Something that calls to them, makes their spirit sing. For me, it happens to be fire spells."

"You mean like those fireworks you did at your show?"

"Exactly. My soul burns like a flame, passionate and wild, and my magic reflects that. Demyx's specialty is water spells. Mages can have all sorts of different strengths. I know a woman whose specialty is lightening and electricity, and I've known others who could shape-shift into some kind of animal. One of my instructors could turn into a bull. Boy was _that_ guy hard-headed. And Demyx has a friend who can make you see things that aren't really there. Things like that, you know? And I'm sure there's someone who specializes in heart magic like you need, but it ain't me. Heart magic is a pretty rare thing."

Sora slumped and gave the ground a mournful look, a look of hopes and dreams destroyed. It might have been Axel's imagination, but it seemed as if the sun chose that moment to hide behind a cloud, and the air took on a cold chill. And even though Axel was usually very good at ignoring these kinds of sympathy-inducing expressions on people, something in Axel's chest ached and would not allow him to leave the poor boy that way.

"Okay okay, stop looking like that. You're going to make the ground open up and swallow me! Listen, I might not be able to help you, but I have heard of someone who is very experienced with curses."

"Really?" The hope was slowly leaking into his eyes again. The sun was emerging from behind its cloud.

"Yeah. There's this man who lives on the outskirts of the city, and he's widely known for having some terrible curse. Mages everywhere have heard of him. He's done all kinds of research about curses, obsesses over them, everyone says, so I'm thinking that maybe he can help you. Maybe he'll know something from his research that can break your friend's curse."

"You think so? Could you take me to him?" His smile was back completely, the sun was shining, and the air was warm. Hope and joy existed in the world once again.

"Sure, I could take you to him, no problem."

"What's his name?"

"They call him the Nothing Man."

* * *

**A/N: This is the part where I beg shamelessly for reviews.**


	4. The Nothing Man

"Nothing Man? What kind of name is that? That's dumb," Sora scoffed.

Axel shrugged. "Dumb it may be, but that's his name. Well, it's what he goes by at least. No one knows what his real name is or where he comes from—Or maybe they do, actually, but _I_ certainly don't know. Anyway, the point is he's been researching curses for _ages_, trying to break whatever awful thing he's stuck with. All in vain, of course, but at least it helps other people, I guess. He's written all kinds of books about curses—causes, symptoms, cures, instructions, all of it. Prolific writer. There are whole classes dedicated to him in mage academies. But he's a mysterious man. Keeps to himself. Crazy old hermit type. He moves around a lot, takes up residence near big cities like this one for a couple years, then moves on. I'm not surprised you've never heard of him. I heard he moved here only recently." Axel used his hands as he spoke, like emphatic punctuation, or perhaps like shadow puppets, fluttering and waving and forming odd shapes to match his words, turning anything he said into a small performance.

"I see," Sora said with a thoughtful nod. "Well, Cloud was too hungover to give me any work today, so I guess this is as good a time as any. Can you take me to this Nothing guy now? Is he far?"

Axel looked at Sora, all big blue eyes and wide smile, practically bouncing with excitement, and at the cat, who was giving him a piercing stare, as if daring him to refuse. Axel was helpless to do anything but agree.

"We might as well," he sighed. "He lives in the woods just beyond the city. I'll take you there, but that's it. I'm not following you inside and waiting for you to finish your business. I do have other things to do, you know. I can't be spending all day helping you solve all your little problems."

"That's fine, that's all I really need."

"Good. And I'd appreciate it if we just kept this little favor between us, okay? I don't need word getting out that I've got some kind of bleeding heart. I'd never hear the end of it. People would start petitioning for my help with their petty problems right and left. My reputation would be ruined!"

"My lips are sealed!" Sora made an exaggerated mime of zipping up his lips, locking them, and tossing the imaginary key.

"Alright, alright. Let's get our little field trip started already. This way." Axel sauntered off with a flippant toss of his hand. Sora followed along behind him while towing his bike, with Roxas riding in the basket.

They headed east through the city, toward the woods just beyond Nomura's edge. Axel's walking pace was quite fast, as his legs were almost as long as Sora was tall, and Sora had to practically jog every now and then when he found himself falling behind. He considered getting on his bike, but the pace was still slow enough to be a bother on two wheels. So instead, Sora made a bit of a game out of following Axel. He stretched his legs wide with every step, trying to match Axel's stride, and counted the steps it took for the mage to pass him, each time trying to beat his previous score. He alternated hopping, skipping, and trotting in order to catch up again, which was made slightly awkward as he also had the bicycle to pull with him. Axel seemed unaware of his companion's antics, or was perhaps ignoring them.

"So I figure I should warn you a bit before we get there," Axel was saying as they walked, gesturing wildly. "The Nothing Man is...ah, well let's just say he's a pretty strange guy. And not the good kind of strange, either. That curse I was telling you about, he's been under it for decades, and apparently it's _terrible_. And not, like, wet shoes terrible, either—more like slow torture terrible. Tongue bleeding and toes-falling-off kind of terrible. I don't know exactly what it is, but I know it ain't good. Some people say that the curse drove him mad somehow. Of course it did. I mean, he's been obsessing over it for who knows _how_ long and getting nowhere. Anyone would go crazy, really. I go crazy when I get a rock in my shoe that doesn't ever come out—you know what I mean, right? Even after I've taken my shoe off and turned it upside down and shaken it like crazy, I put the shoe back on and that fucker is _still there_. What the hell? That drives me _nuts_! I can't _imagine_ what the Nothing Man has to go through. Thing is, he's dangerous, too. And dangerous crazy is not good. There have been people who have gone to see him who are never heard from again. Those who _are_ heard from again have pretty messed up stories to tell. Horrible stories. Disgusting stories. Stories that make you afraid of the dark. Stories used to scare children and make them behave. And that's why I'm warning you before we get there. In case you want to change your mind about all this. I wouldn't blame you at all." Axel paused to look at Sora, hesitating in a dramatic way. If Axel knew anything, it was when he had an audience, and Sora was the definition of captivated. Even the cat was watching him intensely.

"What are the stories? Tell me tell me!" Sora implored eagerly, buzzing with excitement as he hopped along beside Axel. (Eight steps until Axel passed him! A new record!)

"You sure you can handle it? I don't want to make you sick or anything."

"I can handle it! I swear! Tell me!"

"Alright, I'll tell you." Axel leaned in close as if sharing a great and dreadful secret, eyes shining and mouth twisted into a wicked smile. Sora and Roxas leaned in as well, unable to resist such a dramatic set up.

"They say the Nothing Man eats people's hearts in order to stay alive."

"He eats their _hearts_?" Sora repeated in grotesque wonder, eyes so large that the white was visible all the way around his irises. Roxas mirrored his expression as well as a cat's face could.

"That's right. He rips the hearts right out of the chests of his victims with his bare hands and eats them up while they're still pumping and oozing with blood," Axel continued, acting out the actions he described with relish.

"Ew, that sounds gross. Why the heck would he want to do that?" Sora asked, crinkling his nose in disgust.

Axel shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe that's what the curse makes him do, or maybe he just does it because he's insane. I'm just telling you what I've heard. Stories traveling across the grapevine and all. I don't know much about the guy myself, like I said. Never really been interested. Not my kind of magic. But there are definitely some weirdos in the world and the Nothing Man is one of them. People generally try to stay away from him. They don't want their hearts eaten after all. It's a terrible way to go."

"Worse than getting trampled?"

"Much worse."

Sora furrowed his brow and cupped his chin in his hand in thought. "But you think he can help with the curse, right?" he asked.

"I think he can. I certainly can't think of anyone else who would know as much about curses. None as close as he is, either."

"Alright, I'm still going then. If he can help me then I'm not afraid of him. I just wont let him eat my heart."

Axel barked a laugh and started walking again. "That's the spirit, kid. I only hope it's as easy as you make it sound."

"Nah, it'll be fine. I'm usually pretty lucky anyway, so I'm sure everything will work out."

"Lucky, huh?" Axel raised an eyebrow while a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Yup. No matter what, things always turn out alright, so I figure I'm pretty lucky. That's what Yuffie says, anyway. She's always saying that I have all the luck and she doesn't have any."

"Well, as someone who has known both sides of such a fickle coin, let me warn you. Luck has a tendency to slip away in a blink, like thief with a wallet, leaving you alone, broke, and vulnerable. Don't rely on such a traitorous friend, you never know when your good grace will run out." His hands danced out the tragedies of lost luck, like an extra story for Sora's benefit.

Sora considered this. "I still think it'll be okay. I'm not worried."

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you. Just be careful. I wont be around to help you out if this guy really does try to eat your heart."

"I will be the most careful that a person can be!" Sora declared. "I will be so careful that people will look back on this day and say 'Wow! Sora was so careful!' It will be very impressive! Even Roxas will be impressed. And Roxas is _always_ careful."

Axel gave a toothy grin. "I'm sure he is. Such a cute little cat has to be careful. Who knows what things might jump out and try to eat him. Is Roxas okay with finding the Nothing Man? It's possible he might eat feline hearts, too. Crazy people are unpredictable like that. Who knows, maybe feline hearts taste even better than human ones—If you enjoy eating hearts, that is. I don't know much about hearts, taste-wise." His fingers wavered dangerously, indicating the terrors that could befall Roxas and his heart. Sora wondered if Axel was fully conscious of his hand movements or if they actually had a life of their own.

"Roxas, you're fine, right?" Roxas rolled his eyes and flicked his tail in the basket. "Yeah, he's fine." Sora decided. "He's not too scared. Roxas can be brave when he wants to be, he just likes to hide a lot. I'm trying to help him, though, so maybe someday he wont want to hide at all." Roxas shot him an annoyed look which Sora ignored.

"Well that's very gracious of you to take on such a task. Helping others is a difficult and thankless job. I should know, I cause all kinds of pain to people who try to help me and I never thank them. But I might have to side with Roxas on this one. Sometimes it is much better to hide. Running out and facing an enemy isn't always the wisest decision. In fact, it can sometimes be a very _deadly_ decision. If you aren't careful, that is."

"You can't run away from your problems forever, though. Eventually you have to face them. So I figure you might as well go ahead and take on whatever it is. It can be fun! Challenges are exciting!"

Axel laughed again. "That, my friend, is something we will probably never agree on. But I admire your tenacity. May I ask, though, what exactly is your reason for doing this? Breaking the curse, I mean. As far as I can see, this is not your problem to face, it's your friend's problem. He's the one with the curse, right? Why isn't _he_ out on his way to the woods to find some heart-eating weirdo to lift his curse?"

"Because I promised I would help him," was Sora's simple answer.

"Ah, I see. He asked, begged, _pleaded_ for your help, and you couldn't resist helping your poor dear friend. It takes a strong man to admit he can't do everything himself. Or so I've heard. Personally, I've never been in a situation that I couldn't handle on my own."

"No, he didn't ask for help. He yelled at me and told me to go away. But I promised to help him anyway."

Axel stopped in his tracks and turned to look Sora in the eye. "Are you telling me that you are about to risk your life to try to find a way to break a curse for some jerk who doesn't even want your help?"

"Riku wants my help," Sora replied, resolutely. "He just doesn't know how to ask. He's like Roxas, hiding from his problems and hoping they'll go away. But they wont. So instead he just stays miserable and never tries to fix anything because he thinks it's useless, even if it's not. He's really lonely, I can tell. I don't think he wants to be mean, he just doesn't want anyone getting hurt from his curse. I want to help him, though. Maybe if I show him that there is hope, he'll be able to solve the rest of it himself. I never give up on friendship!"

"I don't know," Axel mused dubiously, hands flying in firm warning as they continued on. "Those were a lot of assumptions you just made about someone's character. Maybe he's not so nice as you think. Suppose he honestly doesn't want help. Suppose he's not hiding from his problems, but rather embracing the confines of the curse. It's possible. Some people really are that mean. I wouldn't be so trusting of another person's nature if I were you. It certainly sounds nice, but that kind of naive idealism can get you seriously hurt."

"He needs my help, though. So I'm going to give it to him, just like I am with Roxas, just like I would with anyone who needs it. I like being able to help people. And maybe someday, those people I helped will remember my kindness and help someone _else_ who needs it. And then kindness and friendship will spread!"

"You honestly believe that?" Axel snorted. "Like, seriously? That's really why you're trying to help this guy you barely know? Because that sounds ridiculously corny. Next you're going to tell me that love makes the world go round and laughter cures diseases."

Sora shrugged. "It's what i believe. You don't have to agree with me. I don't really care if you think it's stupid." And it was true, Sora really didn't care. People could make fun of him all they liked and it wouldn't change how he felt.

"Well it sounds beautiful, kid. You're a real hero," Axel remarked. And if he sounded a little snide and sarcastic, Sora certainly didn't notice.

The two of them slipped into a silence as they walked, neither having any more to say on the subject. But Sora wasn't a big fan of quiet, and after a new high score of nine whole steps until Axel passed him, he piped up with a question.

"So what kinds of places have you been?" he asked. "In your travels as a performer, I mean. Do you meet lots of weird people and creatures? Do you have wacky mishaps and exciting adventures?"

"Oh, we've been all kinds of places, really. Big cities, mountain towns, sea-side villages. You name it, we've been there. Anything involving Demyx is a wacky mishap, really, and there have been a few exciting adventures, I suppose. As for weird people, I've certainly met a lot of them. Found some right in Nomura." His fingers provided extra descriptions of the places and people.

"Really? Like who? Anyone I know?"

"Well you top the list, so I would think so."

"Me?" Sora laughed. "What are you talking about, I'm not weird."

"I honestly don't know any other person who would even _think_ of trying to break a curse for someone who isn't even nice to them. Or anyone who brings their cat around with them and talks to it like you do."

"That's not even that weird!"

"It is _very_ weird. But it's a good kind of weird."

Sora gave a noncommittal hum in response before losing interest in the topic. Axel passed him in only five steps, much to his dismay.

"Tell me about your adventures," he insisted. "I want to hear about them!"

"Ah, well, let's see..." Axel paused in thought for a moment before launching into an involved story about how he and Demyx had performed for nobles, who had, of course, fallen in love with them, and then how they had to later flee the city when the two had eventually rejected the nobles' advances. This was followed by another harrowing tale describing the small village that created a holiday for the two of them when they accidentally blew up the terrible tax-collector's vault during one of Axel's fire tricks, which ended up showering the square with coins. And then another detailing how they had stowed away on a ship crossing an ocean, and once discovered, how they had been placed in a small cell since apparently sailors commonly consider mages to be bad luck at sea. When the sailors threatened to throw them overboard, they escaped through their combined powers, stealing a small life boat and making a getaway through a fog created by Demyx. The stories went on, thrilling Sora and catching even Roxas' attention, until they eventually reached the edge of the city and made their way into the woods.

The woods on the eastern border of Nomura were thick and dense, but not necessarily dark or spooky. Sora had explored the area often and was quite familiar with the tall trees, like many quiet, green friends. Sunlight streamed through gaps in the lush branches, creating dappled patterns of light over the wildflowers and sparse grass on the forest floor. Vivid green moss carpeted most rocks and boulders and attempted to ease its way onto the bases of some trees. Birds chirped merrily, fluttering about high above them, and bushes rustled from small animals running about unseen. Tree sprites peered out from behind branches here and there, small, softly-glowing figures shaped like odd sticks with arms and legs, some long and thin, as straight as pencils, others squat and knotted like fat, crooked thumbs. The sprites watched them silently with large dark eyes, the only discernible feature in their peculiar faces, and Sora smiled up at them. They would slip away when they noticed him looking, though, because tree sprites were notoriously shy. Roxas' eyes and ears flitted to and fro, watching and listening to the small animals around him intently. He was particularly interested in the tree sprites, who seemed to return the attention, and there were a number of small staring contests between them, which Roxas mostly won. They followed a dirt trail, wide and well used, for quite some time as Axel continued his wild tales, clearly as amused with his stories as Sora and Roxas were. His voice echoed pleasantly through the trees as they walked, mingling with the rest of the forest chatter.

When they reached what might have been the middle of the forest, however, Axel came to an abrupt halt, his story cutting off mid-sentence. Sora nearly tripped over his feet at the suddenness of it.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I believe the time has come to leave the path," Axel answered. "This way!" He took off to the left into the bushes and trees. Sora scrambled after him.

"Hey wait up! Where are you going?" he called.

"Well you don't expect a cursed old man who eats people's hearts to live right off the main path, do you?" Axel replied looking back over his shoulder. "We've got to search for him deep in the woods! Lucky you have me, though. I can sense some magic coming from over this way. It must be pretty intense for me to feel it from this far, though. Ah, well, that's not so unexpected, either." And with that, he tromped on. Larger branches and bushes leaned just slightly out of his way as he walked, and his stride was swift and even. Those same branches snapped back into place just as Sora reached them, however, whacking him in the face and legs. Roxas ducked down in the basket to avoid a similar leafy fate as Sora stumbled along after his guide.

This continued for a while, wandering on deeper into the woods where even Sora had never been before. Axel led the way confidently, turning sharply at points as if on a whim, but with a determination that ruled out such a thing. He paused now and then to consider something, as if he had lost whatever invisible path he had been following, but some unknown thing always managed to spur him onward after a moment. Sora bobbed along behind him, rolling his bicycle over every bump and through every bush.

By now they were far from any trail at all, and they stomped through mud and brush indiscriminately. The farther they went, the quieter the forest seemed to get, with a lack of birds and animals that created an ominous stillness. The silence struck both Sora and Roxas as distinctly _wrong_ in a way neither would really be able to describe, and they both fought a strange prickle at the backs of their necks which told them to turn back. Sora wondered if this was how Kairi felt all the time with her superpowers. The only thing that moved or made any sort of noise were the bugs, dark beetles and large, ugly flies, which only seemed to get bigger as they went, and who seemed to enjoy hovering around their faces. Roxas swiped at a few that came too close to him, and while he was able to knock one beetle hard enough that it crashed into a tree, the rest dodged him easily. The tree sprites peering down at them were fewer, but they watched the travelers more intently; They were curious to see these newcomers venturing where few dared to go. The trees slowly became more gnarled and rotted—sullen, wretched things unlike their quiet, peaceful brothers elsewhere in the forest. Their ash-gray bark oozed with sap and bugs and gave off a decaying sort of smell. Though the crooked branches seemed bare of much foliage, they were twisted and knotted together densely enough that little sunlight was able to make its way through, casting everything in a dark shade.

Axel came to another sudden stop in front of a dense thicket at the base of a steep, rocky hill.

"What is it?" Sora asked when he had caught up.

"Can't you tell?" Axel replied with a gesture toward the thicket. "We have arrived!" Sora looked again and noticed that amongst the tall thorny bushes was a wooden door. Further examination revealed walls hidden behind the bushes and trees, as well as a roof and lightly smoking chimney.

"The Nothing Man is in there?"

"Seems like it. Guess that's his house or something." The trio looked on at the house for a moment longer until Axel spoke up again. "Well, I'm off. Good luck!" He turned on his heel and began walking away.

"Wait!" Sora called. "You're really leaving?"

"Yeah. I said I would, didn't I?" Axel raised an unapologetic eyebrow at him. "I told you I would take you here, but that I wouldn't stick around. So I'm going now." Axel gave them a short, two-finger salute and strode off. With his fast pace, it didn't take long for him to disappear into the trees.

Sora frowned at the spot Axel had retreated into. "I can't believe he really left us," he said, shoulders drooping. "I thought he might change his mind."

"Don't worry about it," said Roxas. "The ground was pretty wet, so we'll be able to follow our tracks back to the main path."

"What about the Nothing Man? Axel told us how terrible he was, and then he just left us alone."

"Nah, I'm not really concerned about that, either. I think Axel was making up those stories just to scare us. They're not true."

"Why would he make that up?" Sora cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"Who knows? He's a traveling performer, right? He makes a living off telling stories and stuff. Besides, he kept saying how he really didn't know much about the Nothing Man. All he knew were stories he had heard, and I'm sure he exaggerated the details. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he was lying about the other stories he was telling us, too."

"He wouldn't lie about that!" Sora gasped, scandalized.

"Why wouldn't he? We don't really know him, and he's a pretty shady guy anyway. And come on, who would honestly build a bronze statue of him and put it in the center of town?" Roxas scoffed.

"But he saved all those kids from getting hit by that train with one hand while capturing the bad guy who had stolen the jewels with the other hand, which saved the town from ruin! Of course they would make a statue for him!"

"There's no way that happened. He can't stop a train with one hand like he said. Plus, how could a few missing jewels ruin the economy of an entire town? Face it, Sora. He lied."

Sora drooped even further, feeling betrayed. "I can't believe he would lie to us. I thought we were friends!" he whined.

"Aw, come on, Sora," Roxas said, trying his best to comfort his friend. "Don't be like that. Sometimes people lie, it's just a fact of life. His stories were pretty entertaining though, even if they weren't true. The important thing is that we're here and we need the Nothing Man's help. Right?"

"Oh, that's right!" Sora exclaimed, brightening up instantly, all offenses forgotten in the face of their quest. "We need to break Riku's curse! Let's go!" Roxas chuckled at his enthusiasm.

Sora leaned his bike against a nearby tree and Roxas jumped out of the basket. They walked up to the door and, without even a moment's pause, Sora knocked boldly. There was no response, however, so Sora tried again, knocking louder. Again, no response.

"Hello! Nothing Man! Are you here?" Sora called, pounding on the door enough to shake it. "My name is Sora and I need your help! Hello!"

The door creaked open, seemingly of its own accord.

"I guess it was unlocked," said Sora.

"Or maybe it was opened with magic," Roxas supposed with a frown.

"Oh you're right! I like that idea better!"

It seemed that Roxas' guess had been correct, because as soon as the two of them stepped inside, the door slammed itself shut behind them, making them jump. The room they had entered was larger than expected, stretching back in a long sort of tunnel. While wooden walls and roof made up the front, the rest of the room appeared to have been carved into the hillside like a cave. There was a fireplace built of red brick to their left, settled where the wooden walls met cave rock. The blazing fire it held was the only light in the room, giving everything a peculiar orange glow and casting flickering shadows which danced across the walls and floor. In front of the fireplace sat a worn red couch and armchair, with a low table set between them. Separating the furniture from the dirt floor was a ragged rug that had clearly seen better days. A large, rickety desk was pushed up against one dirt wall, covered in a mess of paper and books, with a frail chair in front of it that looked like it might fall apart at any moment. Shelves had been carved into the cave walls here and there, holding, in addition to many dusty books, a number of odd items that Sora wasn't altogether sure what they were. There were half-burnt candles shaped like human hands with a wick at each finger's end, an assortment of small rodent skulls, oddly-shaped jars filled with mysterious colored goo, bundles of bird feathers, shriveled fruit covered in mold, figurines of porcelain doll heads, twisted metal contraptions whose purposes were unclear but which looked painful either way, displays of large bugs pinned to boards or else encased in amber, and a bowl containing what appeared to be eyeballs. (There were a great many other things, but Sora decided to stop looking once he'd noticed the eyeballs.) The pungent smell of decay wafted over them, like sour milk and burnt hair combined, making Roxas sneeze. The room, however, appeared to be empty.

"Um, hello? Mister Nothing Guy? Are you here? Sorry for the intrusion. The door opened so we came in...Is anybody home?" Sora called out, remembering his promise to be cautious.

There was movement from the back of the room in a dark corner that caught their eye.

"What business do you seek with me?" a deep voice rumbled.

"Are you the Nothing Man?" Sora asked, rooted to his spot by the door. Roxas' ears snapped back warily and he crouched in a defensive pose by Sora's feet.

"In a manner of speaking, I am. I am nothing, and yet I am a man. Perhaps I am more one than the other, but that seems to vary by day. Today I am more nothing, but tomorrow I may be more man. Such is my existence."

"Um, okay, I guess. My name is Sora, and this is Roxas. My friend Riku is under a curse and we thought you could help us break it."

There was a tense pause before a tall figure emerged from the shadows. As he stepped forward, the firelight fell over him, revealing a broad-shouldered man wearing a long dark robe and a crimson red cloak which dragged on the floor. A belt full of tattered leather pouches hung from his waist, looking as though it had been sewn onto the robe. His head was wrapped completely in bandages as red as his cloak and buckled leather straps, covering his entire face, save two openings for his mouth and right eye.

"You thought I could help you break a curse," the Nothing Man repeated slowly, as if savoring the shape of the words on his tongue.

"Yeah. My friend said you know a lot about curses, so we thought you might know how to break Riku's curse. Can you?"

The man gave a low chuckle, a raspy sound that creeped under the skin. "I know much about curses. My knowledge comprises the entirety of all that is known about that dark magic. Indeed, there is no other who knows more than I." He moved forward slowly until he reached the fireplace, where he stopped and gazed into the flames. "Riku, you said his name was?"

"Yeah, Riku. This old wizard put a curse on him so that anyone he cares about or who cares about him gets hurt. Do you know how to fix a curse like that?"

"Riku, the mage nephew of Sephiroth, head of the Jenova family who governs Nomura," he said, not so much a question as a statement.

"Yeah, that's the one!"

The Nothing Man gave another chuckle, and Sora decided he did not like the sound.

"I know very well the curse that afflicts Riku, nephew of Sephiroth. But it is not the one of which you speak."

"You mean he has two different curses?" Sora exclaimed, horrified. How on earth was he going to fix _two_ curses? "What's the other one?"

"Come here, boy. Sit, and I will tell you." Sora did as he was told and sat down gingerly on the couch, which was the closest to the door, and Roxas jumped up beside him. The Nothing Man settled in the armchair across from them. Up close, Sora and Roxas noticed the putrid body odor reeking off of him, as if he hadn't bathed in years. Sora tried his best not to make a face while Roxas' fur stood on end. The one eye peering out from behind the red bandages was an unsettling golden color, and the visible skin around it and his mouth was gray and puckered. His teeth were crooked and rotten, almost as yellow as his eye, but looked as sharp as a carnivorous beast's. The Nothing Man gazed at them silently for a full minute, and Sora fidgeted uncomfortably under the weight of it.

"It is possible that Riku may have two curses upon him, as you said," he spoke at last. "Perhaps the first curse, the one you speak of, made it possible for the second to take place..." The Nothing Man drifted off, staring into the shadows jumping around the low table between them.

"Okay, well how do I fix the first one?" Sora urged with a thoughtful frown. "I might as well get that one out of the way first."

"The curse you described is the result of a distortion of the heart, which deforms feelings of happiness and love around it into physical pain. A type three curse, out of the five main categories. It can only be cured by the power of a pure heart. A pure heart must love him unconditionally, and that love must be returned. Then the magic inherent in a pure heart will be able to cleanse the twisted external impurities that were cast into Riku's heart, hopefully before the curse kills the bearer of the pure heart. But that is no matter, really. For I do not think that there is anyone in the world anymore who still possesses a pure heart. And even if one was found, the second curse would destroy Riku long before he could be saved."

"EH!" Sora shrieked, jolting forward in his seat. "What do you mean it will destroy him! What the heck is the second curse?"

The Nothing Man's mouth twisted into a sinister smile.

"The second curse that Riku, nephew of Sephiroth, is plagued with is the very same one that I myself have been suffering from for fifty years."

Sora's mouth opened and closed a few times in surprise. "Oh," he managed to say at last. "Are...are you sure? I mean, how do you know that? Have you ever met Riku?"

It was impossible to tell what kind of expression the Nothing Man was giving him, obscured as his face was, but he might have been annoyed. "I have never met Riku, my newest replacement, but I have certainly met Xehanort, the caster of the spell."

"Xehanort? Oh, Kairi said he was the nobles' adviser or something."

"That is what he usually presents himself as. In order to tell you what is happening to your friend, I suppose I must first tell you my own story."

Sora was about to protest because he honestly didn't care anything about the Nothing Man, let alone his story. But Roxas, knowing that something offensive was about to come out of Sora's mouth and fearing for their safety, bit the boy's finger sharply. Sora gave a start, looking down at Roxas with a hurt expression, and Roxas shook his head in warning. Sora got the message and sunk back in his seat with a bored sulk as the Nothing Man began his story.

"Years and years ago, when I was a young man with a name of my own, I was a nobleman of a city very far away from here that I'm sure you have never heard of. That city does not exist anymore, not really. I was a mage, as was my older brother, and we had both graduated with honors from the academy in our city, though he was always the more powerful of the two of us. My brother was the head of the family, and he personally controlled all aspects of government. He was a very controlling man, and though I and others in my family wanted to help, he would not let us interfere. Back then, I carried the name Ansem, and because I was denied politics, I became a scholar. I was known as Ansem the Wise, because of my education—but looking back, I realize how foolish I really was. So undeserving of that name.

"One day, a man calling himself Xehanort came to us, claiming to be an experienced adviser of finances. Though my brother trusted few with any sort of responsibility, he had run the city into debt, and so he hired the man. I did not speak to Xehanort often, but he must have sensed my dissatisfaction and jealousy at being denied the power to govern my city in any way. Not long after, perhaps a year or so, I began to see the shadow monsters." At this, Sora and Roxas perked up in their seats.

"They came at night, at first infrequently, but then almost every night. I know now that when they caught me each night, they were stealing my spirit and filling my soul with darkness. Xehanort controls these shadow monsters. He casts a curse over his victims that takes away their spirit energy using a shadow crystal. A type five curse. The monsters are born from the crystal and chase their appointed target, stealing their spirit energy a little every night, until at last the victim has lost all of their spirit and becomes filled with darkness. When this happens, the victim becomes Xehanort's puppet, with no will of their own, succumbing to their darkest vices and obeying Xehanort's every command.

"He targets mages and nobles, preferably combined, so that their power becomes his own. The spirit energy he steals becomes his own life force, and he feeds off of it, like an elixir of life. With the noble mage under his control, Xehanort takes power, in the shadows behind his puppet. His monsters become strong enough to possess soldiers, and with them, he wreaks chaos and havoc over the city. Through my years of observation, I have discovered that along with the spirit energy he steals, the only thing keeping Xehanort alive is the chaos he creates. Sometimes by declaring war on another city, sometimes by simply attacking the town's own people under some pretense or another, the violence, hatred, and fear fills every heart with darkness. He feeds off the darkness in the hearts of the people the way he feeds off the life force of his initial victim, until he sucks the city dry. When he is done, he moves on to the next city, leaving death and ruin in his wake.

"This is the tragedy that befell me and my city so long ago. Xehanort eventually possessed me, causing my jealousy of my brother to take over. Under his power, I staged a coup and killed my brother and all his supporters." He looked away for a moment, shaking his head in bitter shame before continuing on with a voice heavy with pain. "Civil war destroyed our city, and all but myself died because of it. Xehanort usually kills his victims, but somehow I managed to regain enough of my senses and escape. I suppose Xehanort did not think me enough of a threat to bother going after. He had achieved his goal by then, after all.

"Since then, I have followed his trail, going from city to city, watching him destroy others the way he had destroyed me and those I loved. I have seen it time and time again. His most recent target was the city of Burmecia, and now he has set his sights on Nomura." Roxas went rigid beside Sora, and Sora blinked in surprise.

"I'm not sure why I follow him still," he continued. "Perhaps I am still looking for a way to get my soul back, my spirit that was stolen from me. The darkness is still inside of me, infecting me. My name has been stolen from me, along with my spirit, and so I have become nothing. Without a soul, I am rotting from the inside out, wasting away. See here." The Nothing Man brought his gloved hand out from the folds of his robe and held it for Sora to see. He slowly peeled the glove off to reveal rotting, gray skin, covered in boils and pustules, looking like spoiled meat and smelling even worse. His skin was the consistency of melting wax, and as he held his hand out, small droplets of viscous flesh dripped onto the table. Sora and Roxas looked on in disgust until the Nothing Man finally tucked his hand back inside the glove. "My body is decaying without my soul. For years I have followed Xehanort, learning his secrets and strategies in the hopes of finding a cure for myself. But so far, I have found very little, as you can see." Sora pursed his lips and said nothing.

"Perhaps, though, I follow him as I simply know not what else to do. For so long I have obsessed over him, consumed by his shadows. Perhaps I am still his puppet, in a way. A puppet without a master, longing for a purpose but finding none. But such is my existence, now. There is no changing it.

"This is the fate of your friend Riku. The only mage in the Jenova family, he is the perfect target. The curse on his heart has made him all the more vulnerable, I'm sure. I have followed Xehanort to Nomura just to witness this, and I know what is to come. The darkness inside of me shivers with anticipation. Soon Xehanort will possess him, devastate your city, and infect every resident's heart with darkness, as he has countless others. If he is lucky, Xehanort will kill him soon. If not, he will become like me."

"But there must be something we can do!" Sora cried. "There must be a way to stop him!"

"There is not. I have been trying for fifty years. Once Xehanort has cast his curse, there is no hope—not for your friend, not for your city, not for you," the Nothing Man stated grimly.

"No! I refuse to believe that! There has to be a way for Riku to break the curse! I'm sure of it! I wont let him lose his spirit and decay like you!"

The Nothing Man's smiled a disgusting, sharp-toothed smile, like a feral animal. "There is one way to counteract the decay of this body that I have found," he said in a perversely giddy tone.

"What is it?" Sora asked warily, not liking the hungry look the Nothing Man was giving him. He fidgeted in his seat.

"The only way to sustain a body without a soul is to eat the heart of someone who has a soul. If I consume your heart, I consume part of your soul, and I become more man than nothing once again." He was leaning forward now, his voice an inhuman growl and his mouth impossibly wide in greedy delight.

"Oh," Sora said faintly. "I guess Axel wasn't lying about that part after all."

"No, I don't suppose he was." The Nothing Man rose from the armchair and stepped forward, his golden eye glowing like the eyes of the shadow monsters. Sora struggled to get out of the way, but found that dark shadowy tendrils had emerged from the couch, gripping his wrists and ankles and tethering him to his seat.

"Foolish boy. You have failed to notice my trap. Those looking for answers will listen to anything as long as it is relevant. While I told my story, the shadows took hold of you, and now you shall never leave. And it looks like you have such a tasty heart, too, with all your hope and idealism. Your heart should sustain me for quite a while, I think."

Sora struggled harder against his shadowy bonds, but to no avail. He was trapped to the couch with no way to escape. The Nothing Man kicked the low table between them to the side with enough force to shatter it against the wall, and Sora cried out in panic, squirming frantically. From one of the several leather pouches on his belt, the Nothing Man produced a long, ragged knife, brown with rust and dried blood.

"Do try to sit still. This process is really much easier if you don't move." The Nothing Man raised the knife, ready to strike, and Sora screamed.

Just then, a figure slammed into the Nothing Man's side, knocking the knife out of his hand and sending it clattering to the floor. He twisted to face his sudden attacker with a venomous snarl.

"Who the hell are you!" he screeched.

It was a young boy about the same age and height as Sora, with a similarly lithe build, wearing a plain white t-shirt and khaki pants over bare feet. He had honey-blond hair that stuck up from his head in an odd way, as if he had just rolled out of bed, and bright blue eyes set in a determined scowl.

"Roxas!" Sora cried. "Be careful!"

"I'm _always_ careful, you idiot," the boy replied. "How the hell did you not notice those shadows grabbing you?"

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Sora whined. "I didn't feel them at all!"

"Tch, whatever," Roxas scoffed.

"So the cat was a human after all," the Nothing Man broke in with with a growl. "A cowardly shape-shifter if ever I met one. No matter, I suppose I will feast on two hearts this evening instead of one."

"Like hell you will you ugly bastard!" Roxas cried before tackling him once again, this time with enough force to bring him to the floor.

"Go Roxas go!" Sora cheered as the two struggled on the dirt floor. The Nothing Man was able to throw Roxas off him, but, as limber and swift as a cat, he managed to roll to the side and snatch the fallen knife before the Nothing Man could gain the upper hand. Roxas stood over his enemy who was still crouched on the floor, and held the knife against the man's neck.

"Let Sora go, you rancid freak!" Roxas demanded.

"Never!" he hissed.

"Roxas look out!"

But before Roxas could do anything of the sort, shadows had emerged from the floor to grasp his ankles, holding him in place. Spindly shadow arms rose up and grabbed his wrists, and though he fought against them, they held fast. The Nothing Man stood and towered over the boy.

"Why must you make this so difficult?" he snarled. "Fighting will get you nowhere. I think I'll eat your heart first, since you have irritated me."

Roxas spat in his face and, with all his strength, managed to twist his captured hand still gripping the knife and slash the Nothing Man's chest. The Nothing Man cried out in pain and staggered back. His focus had apparently been disrupted enough that the shadowy bonds trapping both boys loosened, and they wrenched themselves free. They scrambled towards the door, but a number of shadow arms with clawed hands rose out of the floor and walls to bar their way.

"You will not escape!" The Nothing Man growled behind them. When they turned, they saw him lumbering toward them, one hand gripping his wound. The knife had torn through his robe and cut deep into his chest, but instead of blood, the gash seemed to be dripping with the viscous gray substance that made up his flesh. Some of the bandages around his face had fallen loose, revealing more blistered skin. Where his left eye should have been was a large scab oozing with puss. Sora and Roxas looked around them desperately for some means of escape, but as there were no windows and the only door was barred by shadow monsters, there seemed little hope.

That, of course, was the moment when the wooden door and walls burst inward with a fiery blast, startling everyone.

"Hey kid, are you still alive?" called a familiar voice. Over the rubble of what had once been the wooden front of the house stepped Axel. When he caught sight of Sora, his eyes lit up. "Ah, excellent, I'm not too late!" His eyebrows shot up in surprise when he noticed the second boy. "And you have a friend now? Well okay, I guess I can save him, too. Let's go!" Sora and Roxas ran for the newly-created opening, but just as they reached the threshold, a hand latched around Sora's ankle with a painfully strong grip. Sora yelped in surprise and fell to his knees. He turned to see the Nothing Man sprawled out on the floor, arm outstretched and clinging to him desperately.

"You will not escape!" he hissed through his melting face. "I must have your heart! I must taste your blood!"

"Not today, motherfucker!" Roxas yelled before stabbing the Nothing Man's hand with the knife deeply enough to pin it to the ground. The Nothing Man shrieked in pain and Sora's ankle was released.

They ran out of the house and Axel gave a forceful thrust of his hand in the air, causing a wall of fire to rise up between them and the Nothing Man, effectively stopping the shadow arms that pursued them. Sora grabbed his bike still waiting patiently by the tree and hopped on, and all three all raced off into the forest. It had grown late and the sun had nearly set, but Axel used a palm full of flames to light up the path as they ran. They only slowed once they had reached the main path again, adrenaline pumping through their veins. Sora slid off his bike and walked it beside him while the other two caught up.

"I thought you said you weren't going to stick around!" Sora said, giving Axel a blinding smile.

"Yeah well, I changed my mind. So what?" Axel shrugged nonchalantly, trying his best to look cool and unconcerned.

"You were worried about us! Even though you're pretending you weren't!" Sora teased, toothy grin wide with self-satisfaction.

"I was not! It just so happened that I had nothing better to do today. Demyx was busy with his friend, so I was bored. I wasn't worried about you after dropping you off at the home of a crazed heart-eating murderer. In fact, I couldn't care less if you had died there."

"You're lying again!" Sora chuckled merrily.

"What!" Axel exclaimed, affronted by the accusation. "I'm not lying. And what do you mean '_again_'? I never lie!"

"Please, everything you _say_ is a lie," Roxas scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"And another thing!" Axel cried, pointing a long finger and the blond boy. "Who the hell are you? How dare you accuse me of such things when we've never even met! I just saved your skinny ass, kid, show some more respect, huh?"

"Tch, hardly," Roxas muttered under his breath with a petulant scowl, causing Axel to fume even more.

"Oh, don't you recognize him?" Sora piped. "This is Roxas. You've met him before."

Axel stopped dead in his tracks, though Roxas kept walking. Sora paused between them, unsure who to follow.

"Roxas? As in your cat? The little yellow cat Roxas who rides in the basket on your bike and who you talk to like a person?"

"Yeah, that's the one. I talk to him like a person because he _is_ a person. He just prefers to be a cat most of the time."

"I—bu—wh—what the _fuck_!" Axel stammered. "What the fuck does that mean, you're a person who prefers to be a cat! Who in their right mind would _prefer_ to be a _cat_?"

Sora opened his mouth in Roxas' defense, but Roxas beat him to it. "Shut the fuck up asshole," he spat, still walking ahead and not looking back. "It's none of your business what I do, so drop it."

"What? I just—No! I will not drop it! You're a shape-shifter, then! That means you have magic! Why would you want to go around as a cat all the time? Have you been trained in magic at all? Have you gone to a mage academy?" Axel burst forward, catching up to Roxas easily with his long legs. "How can you just sit around and waste all your talent like this?"

Roxas turned to him sharply with a vicious snarl. "I'm not wasting my talent! You don't know anything about it, okay? So leave me the fuck alone!" With that, he ran off ahead, changing back into a cat in one fluid motion. "I'll see you back at the apartment, Sora!" he called before disappearing down the path.

Sora sighed as he watched him go. He caught up to Axel, who was still looking perplexed and offended.

"Don't worry about him," Sora said. "He just gets really defensive sometimes."

Axel turned to him, eyebrows drawn in concern. "Why do you let him stay as a cat? He really is wasting his talent. A person shouldn't live as a cat, even if he is a shape-shifter."

Sora chewed his lip. "Roxas has been through a lot. He got hurt real bad a while ago, and being a cat is just easier for him right now. But I'm trying to help him, like I said before, so that one day he can face his problems. There's no point rushing things, though. The healing process can take a long time. But I'm confident that one day soon he will get better. The fact that he turned into a person today at all shows real improvement! It shows that he'll change into a human if he really needs to, so that's good. If he hadn't, I'd definitely be dead! Plus he stayed that way long enough to have a conversation with you. I think that means he likes you!" he said brightly.

But Axel only gave him a doubtful frown. "Still, though, this can't be healthy—" he began, but Sora effectively cut him off with a sharp shake of his head.

"It's no use arguing about it," he said firmly. "He will get better when he is ready. And in the mean time all we can do is be supportive!"

Axel opened his mouth, but couldn't find any words and so closed it again and sighed instead. "You really think he likes me?" he asked after a moment.

"Sure he does!" Sora said brightly. "He didn't scratch your eyes out or attack you or anything! He definitely likes you!"

Axel blinked, but then gave a crooked grin. "Well I guess that's better than nothing."

"Anyway, thanks a lot for saving us from the Nothing Man. He was going to eat our hearts for sure!"

"No problem."

"By the way, part of your story was wrong. He doesn't rip the heart out with his bare hands. He uses this big rusty knife."

"Ah, good to know. I shall amend my story in the future. Did you at least get the information you needed about your friend's curse?"

"Yup! I learned all kinds of of useful things!"

"Well at least some good came out of all this."

"Yeah, it all worked out just like I thought it would. I'm so lucky!" he laughed.

"What do you mean you're lucky? You almost died!"

"Yeah, but I didn't! Both you _and_ Roxas saved me from getting eaten. That's _super_ lucky!"

"Fair enough," Axel conceded. "You _are_ pretty luck you aren't dead."

Sora told Axel everything about their exciting meeting with the Nothing Man as they made their way through the dark forest back to the city. Axel confirmed his earlier statement that Sora was one of the weirdest people he had ever met.

* * *

**A/N: Aha! So Roxas turned out to be human! Eh? What's that? No one was remotely surprised? Oh well. But the Nothing Man turned out to be Ansem the Wise/Diz! What? No one was surprised about that, either? Even though I made him evil?...Huh? What do you mean no one cares?!**

**I realize that I often fall into the story cliche of having giant scenes where people sit down and explain shit to the main character/reader, so this time I decided to poke fun at myself and turn it all into a big trap for our dumb protagonist! As if to tell myself 'stop doing that, it's terrible!' while still reaping the plot-progression benefits.**

**Let me know if you thought it was ridiculously cheesy or just super cheesy.**


	5. The Mercenary's Advice

When Sora arrived home that evening, he found his apartment dark and quiet. He turned on the cheap gas lamp sitting on the shelf to his right as he stepped inside and closed the door, but the light revealed a seemingly empty room.

In the far right corner sat his his bed, sagging slightly with age, but functional as ever in its squat wooden frame. At the foot of the bed lay the colorful rug sewn from rags that Aerith had shown him how to make, and next to it was a low bedside table. A tall, shabby wardrobe whose finish had long since worn off before Sora had ever owned it stood nearby, bursting with unfolded clothes. To the left of the room was the kitchen area, containing a small stove, a brick oven, a sink, an icebox, and a cluttered counter. Cupboards took up the wall space above the counter and sink, and a second, smaller rug (the less-successful results of Sora's first rug-making lessons) took up a spot on the floor. Against the wall opposite the door, underneath the window that overlooked the street when the printed curtain wasn't drawn, was a table accompanied by two mismatched chairs. The hardwood floor of the room was littered with discarded clothing that never seemed to make it into the laundry hamper, balls of socks and heaps of t-shirts and shorts, alongside odd papers and nicknacks that may have once had a place on a table or shelf but which now resided comfortably on the floor. The only thing that was properly in its place on a shelf was his bicycle helmet, which was never used.

"Roxas?" Sora called as he slipped out of his shoes. "Are you here?"

"I'm here," answered a muffled voice from the direction of the bed. Sora looked over and noticed a small lump beneath the quilted covers.

"Are you hiding under the blankets again?" Sora asked with an amused smile.

"Shut up! I'm burrowing! It's cozy!"

"Of course," he chuckled. "Are you going to come out?"

"No."

Sora made his way over to the oven and lit the coals inside it in order to combat the evening chill that had settled in the room. Crouching in front of the open oven door, he picked up the thin metal rod hanging from its hook nearby and tried to encourage the fire a bit. He stoked and prodded the slowly-heating coals in quiet contemplation.

"So, do you want to talk about it?" Sora ventured at length.

"No."

Sora closed the door, placed the rod back in its spot, and turned to lean against the counter. He pursed his lips slightly, which made him suddenly realize how chapped they were. This took up his attention for a moment as he rubbed and smacked his dry lips together. He picked off a bit of the dead skin with his fingers and flicked it absently to the side.

"You know, that was the first time in a while that you actually turned back into a human," Sora said thoughtfully. The lump on the bed said nothing, and after a moment, he continued. "So I was just thinking that it was pretty cool, what you did. Attacking that weird guy and all. You definitely stopped him from eating me." He paused again and heard what might have been a muttered 'whatever'. "And you even talked to Axel. That was surprising. Well, not that you actually _talked_ to him, more like you yelled at him for no reason—but still, that's something."

"I said I don't want to talk about it."

"I just think your first conversation in a while with someone other than me could have been a little nicer, is all. You know, more like 'hi how are you,' 'fine thanks, and you' sort of thing. Maybe we should work on your anger issues or something."

"I don't have anger issues," Roxas snapped. "That guy was just pissing me off. I don't want to talk about it, so leave me alone."

"Can you come out from under the blankets? It's weird talking to you like this."

"So don't talk to me, then. I'm not coming out, and you can't make me. Just leave me alone."

"Alright, alright," Sora said, holding his hands up in surrender—not that Roxas could see the gesture, buried under blankets as he was.

When Roxas got into one of his sour moods, it usually took a while for him to come out again, and Sora had grown accustomed to dealing with his friend's ill temper. He pursed his chapped lips together again before releasing a small sigh.

He turned and began rustling through the cabinets to pull out a pan and other utensils, then rummaged through the icebox and cupboards for food. He busied himself with cooking dinner for a while, humming a pleasant little tune to himself as he chopped the ingredients and tossed them around in the pan. In about ten minutes, he had his concoction sizzling to his satisfaction, and the small apartment was filled with its surprisingly appetizing smell.

Roxas poked his head out from under the covers, his small nose twitching with curiosity.

"What's that?" he asked with an air of quite clearly feigned disinterest.

"Oh, nothing," Sora replied, matching Roxas' bored tone. "Just some chicken, I guess. Nothing special."

"What kind of chicken?"

Sora shrugged. "I dunno, just something I put together. It has some spices, I guess. And some bell peppers."

"Oh," Roxas gulped.

"Yeah, it's whatever. Ah man, but I think I made too much. There's way too much chicken in here. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to eat it all." Sora gave an innocent glance over his shoulder at the cat. "Unless _you_ want some."

Roxas huddled back into the blankets. "Well..."

"Oh, what am I saying? I forgot you aren't coming out from under the blankets. Darn, that's too bad. I'll just have to eat this _all by myself_. Even if I get _so totally full _that I get sick and throw up all over the place." He pulled a plate out from a cupboard and piled it with food. "Hm, and what to drink with it? Oh, I know, I'll have some milk. I just _love_ milk, don't you?"

He poured himself a tall glass of milk and carried it with his food to the table, quite aware of the pair of eyes following him. Once seated, he cut himself a chunk of meat and paused with the fork half-way to his mouth. He looked up and caught Roxas' eye. The cat was watching him intently, neck straining out from under the blankets and pupils blown.

"Oh hi, Roxas, was there something you wanted?" Sora asked, blinking innocently.

"Um, well, I just..."

"You aren't hungry, are you? Oh what am I saying, of _course_ you aren't. You're determined to stay under the blankets all night and _nothing_ I do could _possibly_ bring you out. Isn't that right?"

"Y-yeah...that's right. I'm not coming out." Roxas' eyes followed the piece of chicken as Sora brought it the rest of the way into his mouth. Sora chewed it enthusiastically, making obnoxious eating sounds.

"Mm, this is so good! The peppers turned out really well! Aren't bell peppers just the best?"

"Yeah, I love bell peppers," Roxas replied, probably unaware of the mournful look coloring his features.

"Well you can certainly have some if you want," Sora said through a mouthful of food. "You'd just have to come out from under the blankets..."

Roxas hesitated, but only for a moment. He slipped out from under the covers, slunk over, and jumped up on the table, his shoulders hunched and his tail low. Sora beamed at him, then grabbed an extra plate and shallow saucer from the kitchen. He filled Roxas' plate and poured some milk from his glass into the saucer. Roxas dug in gratefully and shamelessly, and Sora laughed quietly to himself.

The two of them ate happily in a comfortable silence as Roxas' bad mood eased away with every bite of food. The sounds of people and automobiles in the street below drifted through the window in a background hum, pleasant and familiar.

"So," Roxas said eventually, looking up from his bowl of milk. "What are we going to do about those curses?"

Any puffed up pride at having successfully pulled Roxas out of his sour mood instantly deflated and Sora slumped in his chair.

"I have no idea," he admitted.

"I mean, assuming that the Nothing Man was telling the truth, which I kind of think he was, the whole city is in a lot of trouble."

"I know."

"Did you hear what he said about Burmecia?" Roxas asked, a noticeable waver in his voice.

Sora looked up and saw the urgency and fear in his friend's eyes. "Yeah, I heard."

"Sora, I can't go through that again. If those shadow things were really responsible for what happened in Burmecia..." Roxas' voice trailed away as his throat became suddenly tight. He swallowed thickly and closed his eyes. "I think we should just leave the city," he added in a low voice. "We should get out while we still can."

"You want us to run away? And leave behind all our friends?" Sora frowned at Roxas, but the cat wouldn't meet his gaze.

"We'll take them too!"

"And all the other people who live here? What about them? Should we abandon them?"

"If that's what it takes!"

"No, Roxas. We can't do that. You know we can't. We'll find a way to save the city."

"Sora, please," Roxas begged, his voice barely above a whisper. "I can't go through that again."

The naked pain in Roxas' voice dissolved whatever frustration Sora had with him.

"I promise you wont have to."

There was a tense pause, and Sora feared Roxas would retreat back under the covers at any minute. But the moment was broken when Roxas gave a shaky laugh. Sora blinked at the unexpected response. Roxas sighed to himself and finally looked up at Sora.

"How do you do that?" he asked.

"Do what?" Sora cocked his head to one side in confusion.

Roxas shook his head and gave a wry grin which looked especially odd on a cat's face. "You just...you say these ridiculous things all the time. All these crazy promises. Like, 'oh, I'll break your curse' or 'don't worry, I'll help you get better,' or 'I promise I'll save the city!' And it's _impossible_. What you're saying is just impossible! And yet..." Roxas gave another incredulous chuckle. "And yet I believe you. How do you do that?"

Sora shrugged, unsure what to say and feeling strangely embarrassed. He poked at the scant remains on his plate with his fork as a light blush crept over his cheeks.

"We'll figure out what to do tomorrow, alright?" he said.

Roxas gave a small nod in agreement.

"So, do you want to help me wash the dishes?" Sora asked with an encouraging smile. He was never one to stay serious for long, and figured that unhappy conversations didn't need to last forever. While someone else might have been disconcerted by Sora's sudden shift in topic, Roxas was grateful for the return to their normal dynamic.

"What are you talking about?" he scoffed, making a face. "I can't help! I have no thumbs!"

"You _could_ have thumbs, though! Come on, you already turned into a person once today, why not do it again and help me wash up for once? It'll be fun! We can sing a cleaning song! _We wash dirty dishes, as we make wishes, we wish for less dirty dishes to wash!_" Sora sang cheerfully.

"Yeah," Roxas drawled, stretching out the word like a yawn. "You know, I _would_, but...ah...I'm really tired, actually. Turning into a person takes a _lot_ out of me. And, uh, I think I might be coming down with something." Roxas coughed pathetically into one paw. "So, I wouldn't want to spread my germs or anything...I think I should probably just head to bed. It'd be the best for both of us, really..." Roxas jumped down from the table and sauntered back to the bed.

Sora blew a raspberry after him as he collected the plates, but Roxas only gave a dismissive flick of his tail before curling into a comfortable ball and feigning sleep.

* * *

Morning sunlight filtered through the curtains enough to stir Cloud slowly out of sleep. He stretched out lazily in his bed, easing out of the slight disorientation that blurs thought just after awaking. He recalled vague impressions of a dream that had involved riding large multicolored birds that might have resembled chicken. Cloud sat up and gave a great satisfying yawn as he worked a few mild kinks out of his back, reveling in the momentary peace of morning before he had to get to work. He blinked sleepily as his eyes wandered over his apartment.

—And gave a yelp like dog whose tail is stepped on when his gaze landed on Sora sitting casually at his dining table.

"Sora! What the hell are you doing in my apartment!" Cloud shrieked.

Sora shrugged, unperturbed.

"Why are you here? What time is it?"

"It's seven o'clock," Sora replied with a look at the clock on the wall.

"Seven! Seven in the morning? What are you even doing awake? The shop doesn't open until nine!"

Sora shrugged again. "I dunno. I just kinda woke up."

"And so you decided to hang out here? Of all places? You have your own apartment! Go be in it! How long have you been sitting there?"

"Not that long."

"How—wait, how did you get in? That door was locked!"

Sora gave another shrug.

"Stop shrugging! I demand answers! How did you get into my apartment? I distinctly remember locking the door last night!"

"I don't know, I just opened the door and walked in."

"How are you always getting through locked doors! You need to stop this!"

"I'll knock next time. Hey, your hair looks funny. It's sticking up all over the place." Sora snickered.

"I'm sure it can't look any worse than your hair does on a daily basis." Cloud pinched the bridge of his nose, already feeling a headache coming on. "Do you want breakfast?" he asked after a few deep breaths.

"Okay!"

"Fine, just give me a minute." Cloud shoved his feet into the slippers by his bed and shuffled to his wardrobe, grumbling outrageous profanities as he pulled a robe over his pajamas. He attempted to flatten his hair with his hand as casually and as unselfconsciously as he could.

"How about scrambled eggs?" Cloud asked as he made his way to the kitchen. His apartment had a similar basic layout to Sora's, with the kitchen at one end and the bed area at the other. One major difference between the two apartments was that Cloud's was slightly larger, as the common construction of buildings in the western district had the floors growing steadily larger as they went up—Sora's apartment was slightly bigger than the delivery shop, and Cloud's, in turn, was a bit larger than Sora's. The other difference was that Cloud's apartment was impeccably tidy. Every small thing had a particular place, arranged for a clean, aesthetically pleasing, if somewhat spartan, look. Probably the most distinctive feature of the room were the swords decorating the walls. About six in total, varying in size and shape, they were all immaculately gleaming, intricately designed, and incredibly sharp.

"I want an omelet," said Sora. "With ham in it. No, wait, bacon! Ham _and_ bacon! And tomatoes."

"You don't get to tell me what to make for breakfast,"Cloud growled as he pulled out a pan and eggs. "An omelet is too complicated."

"But I'm your guest!"

"You're not my guest if I don't invite you."

"Fine, I'll take scrambled eggs."

"Good."

Cloud prepared breakfast in silence, the soft sizzling of eggs and tapping of the spatula on the pan the only sound in the apartment. It was pleasant until a thought struck Cloud—Sora was being incredibly quiet. Not once had he burst out telling some odd story or started singing some kind of breakfast song or pestered him with bizarre questions. This of course, was a very strange phenomena. Much stranger, in fact, than Sora appearing in his apartment—that at least had happened before. But Sora had never sat quietly for any length of time. It was weird.

Cloud snuck a look over at the boy and found him with his elbows on the table and chin in his hands, eyes downcast.

"Oh no," Cloud groaned.

"What?" Sora asked.

"You've got that look on your face."

"What look?"

"That look that means something's wrong. And you're in _my_ apartment, sitting _quietly_, so that means you think _I_ can help with whatever problem you have. Dammit, I should have known something was up when you caved in to the scrambled eggs so easily." Cloud sighed as he scooped two plates full of eggs. "Alright what do you want from me?"

"I need some advice."

"Advice! What? Crap. Why are you asking _me_? I realize that I am literally the closest person you could ask, but if you just go right across the street, I'm sure Aerith would _love_ to help you. That women loves giving advice, whether you ask for it or not. And Zack loves butting into people's business, so I'm sure he'll get a kick out of whatever it is. It'll take less than five minutes to get there. You'll be much better off, I assure you."

But Sora remained where he sat, moping at the swirled wooden veins on the table surface.

Cloud set the plates down in front of them and sat across from Sora. "And if you wanted an actually good breakfast, you should have appeared in Tifa's kitchen in stead of mine." He scowled at his eggs as he ate them.

"Okay," Sora began, "so I have two problems that I need your advice about."

Cloud inclined his head to indicate that he was listening.

"The first one is about my friend Riku. I told you about him the other day."

"The one with the curse?"

"Yeah! So, yesterday while you were all hungover and stuff, Roxas and I went to this weird curse guy to ask how to break Riku's curse—"

"I wasn't that hungover. I never said you could skip a day of work."

"Well you never got up in the morning and when I knocked on your door you shouted at me for being loud, and then I heard you throwing up."

Cloud fumed, but could say nothing in response because all of that had been quite true.

"So anyway, the curse guy turned out to be all weird and gooey and he smelled really bad and tried to eat my heart, but then Roxas stabbed him and Axel blew up his house and we ran away. But before all that happened, he said that Riku has this _other_ curse that's going to make all these monsters kill everybody so that some old guy can eat our souls or something." Upon finishing, Sora promptly shoved a forkful of eggs in his cheek.

Cloud set his own fork down and leaned back in his chair, looking up at his ceiling as if it could provide answers of some sort. "I'm not even sure where to start with that one, Sora. Your cat...stabbed a gooey person? And then someone blew up his house? How exactly do you expect me to react to that?"

"How can I stop the evil guy from using crazy shadow monsters to eat everybody's soul?" Sora gave Cloud an earnest, desperate look.

"Well, if I just pretend that any of that made at least a little bit of sense...I guess I would say that you have to go after the evil guy. Right? Stop him from...whatever you said he was doing."

"Using shadow monsters to eat people's souls and destroy the city."

"Right. That. Stop him from doing that somehow."

"How?"

"I don't know, Sora. It's too early for this."

"What would you do? How would you stop him?"

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Me? Well, honestly, if this guy was really threatening people I cared about, I would kill him."

Sora's eyes widened. "How would you do _that_?"

"Well, there are a lot of ways to kill a man. My personal specialty is with a sword."

"Like the ones on your walls?"

"Yeah. Those are...well, there was a time when my life depended on those things right there. They have served me well."

"You carried all of those? There are so many!"

"You can combine and lock them in a specific way to make one large sword. That's how I usually used them. Separated, though, they can all be used for different tasks."

"Woa!" Sora cried, eyes glowing with excitement. "You can turn all your little swords into a giant sword? That's so cool!"

Cloud chuckled, despite himself. He had always thought that was pretty cool, too.

"So you would just go up and stab him?"

"Well, no," Cloud amended. "I mean, I don't really know this enemy you're talking about, so it could be dangerous to face him head on if you don't know what he's capable of. The best way to take him out would be some kind of sneak attack. Get in quick and fast before he even notices you're there. Gives him less of a chance to fight back."

"Woa, so you really were a mercenary, weren't you?"

Cloud's expression turned rueful. "Yeah, I was." he said softly.

Sora chewed his eggs thoughtfully for moment. "So why did you stop being a mercenary, then? You didn't like it anymore? Were you bad at it?"

Cloud gave a humorless laugh. "No, I was definitely quite good at it. That wasn't the problem." He poked at his food with a frown.

"Then what was the problem?"

"It's complicated." Cloud sighed. "I just...got tired of it, I guess."

"Oh."

"So anyway, what's the other problem you need help with?"

"Okay, so I have this friend. And something really bad happened to him a while ago that hurt him a lot and made him really sad and stuff. So he...well he sort of hides and pretends he's something that he's not. And he doesn't ever talk to anybody except me. So I'm trying to help him get better so that he's not afraid to be himself, but...It's kind of taking a long time, you know? Cuz I thought he should heal at his own pace and everything, so I wasn't pushing him. And I thought that was fine, but then yesterday, someone else found out about my friend, and he said some things... And now I'm wondering if I'm doing the right thing after all. Like, maybe I should be more, uh, forceful or something. What do you think?"

Cloud frowned as he swallowed a bite, wondering if he had ever seen Sora look quite so self-doubting and vulnerable before. He wasn't sure he had.

"You think if you were more strict and demanding that it would force your friend to get better?" he asked.

"Maybe I'm being too soft on him and that's why he's still the way he is."

"And what way is that, exactly? How is he hiding?"

"Well...he's sort of in disguise, I guess. He makes himself look like something else so he doesn't have to act normal."

"What do you mean?"

Sora scrunched up his face, clearly conflicted. "I can't tell you. I promised him I wouldn't tell anybody. That was our deal when I first found out about him."

"You made a deal with him?"

"Yeah, I promised I would keep his secret if he promised he would try to get better. Except I kind of blabbed yesterday, but I figure that was different because Axel saw him out of his disguise before I said anything..." Sora frowned. "Gee, I hope he's not mad at me. It didn't really seem like he was, though."

"Well, even if he was mad, he probably got over it. It's impossible to stay mad at you for too long. I mean, I would really like to be mad at you for breaking into my apartment, but I'm not."

Sora chuckled mischievously.

"But that doesn't mean you can do it again!" Cloud barked. Sora was appropriately cowed by this and ate his eggs meekly. Cloud could see through it, though, and knew that Sora would probably try something like this again in the future. That rascal could get away with anything. And Cloud had only himself to blame, really.

"Anyway," Cloud sighed, "it's hard to say definitively what the best way for someone to heal is. It depends on the person and what happened to them. I've known a lot of people who have experienced terrible tragedies. Some people are able to push through it, and others never get over it. Some people want to sit and talk about their feelings, and others want to forget that those things ever happened."

"How do you know so many people who had tragedies?" Sora asked. Or, at least that's what Cloud thought he said, as Sora's mouth was stuffed with food and it came out as muffled gibberish.

"You see a lot of bad things when you work in assassination. Sometimes...well, sometimes you're the reason for those tragedies."

"Is that why you stopped, then? Because it made you sad?"

"I guess that's one way of putting it," Cloud said with a soft, hollow laugh. "Being a mercenary just...gets a little lonely after a while. I was tired of causing so much destruction and pain everywhere I went. I didn't want that to be my life anymore. So I stopped."

Sora made a thoughtful noise. Cloud shook his head, as if admonishing himself for getting into the topic more than he meant to.

"Anyway, if you really think your friend isn't getting any better with your style of help, maybe it would be best to push him a little more."

"Yeah?"

"Sure. Not too much, though, don't be too harsh. That could make things worse. Just try to gently nudge him out of his comfort zone a bit. Get him to try things that he hasn't done before. Maybe convince him to stop being in his disguise for a little bit each day, so he gets more comfortable with it. Things like that."

"You think that would work?" Sora asked with a hopeful smile.

"It might," Cloud shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt to try, I guess. But I'm not exactly an expert on this kind of thing, so don't take my word for it. Anyway, are you done with that?" he asked, gesturing to Sora's empty plate. Sora nodded. "Alright, it's after eight already, so go back to your place and get ready for work. I expect to see you in no more than forty five minutes. We have a lot of catching up to do since we missed yesterday."

"You got it, boss!"

Cloud rolled his eyes as he collected the dishes, and Sora bounced off to his apartment on the floor below.

It was then Cloud realized that he might have accidentally advised Sora to kill someone. His eyes widened at the realization, and he hoped fervently that this would not be the one time Sora actually listened to him.

* * *

Forty-five minutes was apparently long enough for Sora to realize how interested he was in Cloud's mercenary past. He burst into the office with a great leap and shouted "I seriously can't believe that I've known you for over a year and I never knew you were a mercenary!" at the top of his lungs. Cloud jumped at his spot at the desk and nearly spilled ink all over his papers. He seemed to hear Roxas snickering at him, and he glared suspiciously at the cat.

"Sora, stop shouting. My headache will come back."

"So why did you become a mercenary in the first place? What was it like? What kinds of weapons did you use? What did you wear? Did you wear a cool hat? What kinds of things did you do? Did you jump around the roofs of buildings? Did you have mercenary friends? Or were they all enemies? Were there some who you were kind of friends with but they were still really enemies and you had to fight them sometimes but you always forgave each other after? Were you all cool and smooth? Were you mysterious? Did you call people _Bud_? Like, 'what's it to ya, _Bud_?' Did you spit a lot? What kinds of people did you work for? Were there guys in suits? Did they wear hats, too?—"

This went on all morning, but much to Sora's disappointment, Cloud did not provide a single satisfying answer. In fact, he mostly groaned and yelled at Sora to stop bugging him while he had paperwork to do. Paperwork was boring, though, so Sora couldn't imagine why he would rather do that than talk about being a mercenary. But Cloud was weird like that.

Cloud forced Sora to do his usual morning chores like sweep the office and clean the front window and organize the packages according to the lists Cloud wrote out. After that was finished, Cloud basically shoved Sora out the door with his first load of packages for the day.

The only good information Sora had gained was that Cloud had not worn a hat, had not spit, and had definitely never called anyone 'Bud'.

After about two and a half hours of delivering, Sora returned for his lunch break. He made a sandwich from ingredients in his own kitchen, but ate it at the table in the office kitchenette and used the time to pester Cloud with more questions. After a few minutes of this, however, Cloud left the office to eat lunch at a cafe down the street, much to Sora's disappointment.

"You probably shouldn't bug him so much," said Roxas, scarfing down the bits of turkey that Sora had given him to eat.

"Why not?"

"What if he gets so annoyed that he kills you? I mean, that used to be his _job_, he could make it look like an accident or something and no one would ever know."

"Nah, he won't do that."

"How do you know? You are really annoying sometimes. What if one day he reaches his limit and just _snaps_? Out of the blue! And he kills you in your sleep? It could happen. You don't know everything."

Sora scrunched his face, unconvinced. "But my boyish charm is so irresistible!"

Roxas snorted, unimpressed, and Sora retaliated by throwing a bit of lettuce at him.

"Aw, gross, man! That had mayonnaise on it! It got on my fur!"

"Well, now when you lick yourself you can taste more than just hair. Bath time _and_ a snack!"

"Why would anyone want to combine those two activities? That seems counter-productive."

"But doesn't it sound kind of awesome? I mean, think about it. Taking a bath can last so long! Sometimes you might want to take a break and eat a cookie."

"Well, if it were a cookie, that would be different," Roxas argued. "But why would I want to taste mayonnaise?"

"I can throw a cookie at you, if you want," Sora offered.

"Don't make me scratch up your face. You know I will."

"Oh no! My boyish good looks! Anything but that!" he cried dramatically.

The screen door squeaked open, and the two of them turned to see Cloud had returned.

"So, when I leave, you really just sit around and talk to your cat?" he asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Pretty much. He's usually snarky, but he's funny, too." Sora patted Roxas on the head, but the cat swiped at his hand and ducked out of the way. "How was your lunch?"

"Ugh, it was awful. That waitress was there again."

"The one who always hits on you?"

"Yeah. She would not leave me alone. I got a free refill out of it, though," Cloud grumbled. He made his way into the office, and Sora, finished with his sandwich, followed after him.

"You should have gone to Tifa's," said Sora.

"I'll remember that for next time. Although Yuffie can be a bit too much to handle sometimes, too." Cloud shook his head sadly. "I'll never win. Everywhere I go, it's always something."

"Poor Cloud. So many struggles."

"Shut it, you!"

Sora cackled as he gathering up the packages to be delivered on his next round.

* * *

It was about four o'clock when Sora finished his deliveries. He and Roxas agreed that the best course of action would be to talk to Riku about this curse business, so they headed up to the mansion. When they arrived, the same old butler from before scowled at them at the front gate as if he did not believe Sora when he told him he had urgent business with Riku. The butler _definitely_ did not believe it when Sora claimed to be Riku's friend. They were finally let in, however, after much use of Sora's trademark charm, and they rode off in search of the gloomy boy.

The old butler had told him to go to the back of the house and find a maid to take him to Riku, but Sora was pretty sure he remembered how to get to the room that Kairi said Riku spent all his time in. So he locked up his bike next to a bench and went in through the front door. They wandered in the direction Sora thought the room had been, opening doors here and there and surprising several maids. They found the right room eventually, mostly thanks to Roxas' recollection that the room had been on the third floor, facing south.

When they opened the door, they found Riku sitting in a chair in front of what looked like a small toy train frozen in a block of ice on a table. He scowled when he saw them.

"What are you doing here? Who let you in?" Riku demanded.

"I feel like people have been asking me that all day," said Sora as he bounced toward Riku. "Anyway, what's up? Roxas and I came to say hi!" He plopped down in a chair across from Riku and found himself shivering at the surprisingly low temperature in the room.

"Hey, it's really cold in here. It was warm outside, though. How weird." Sora rubbed his arms a bit. He huffed out a puff of air and discovered he could see his breath. "Aren't you cold?"

"I'm wearing a jacket," Riku replied. And indeed, he was.

"So I see. Why is it so cold?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "I'm practicing my magic. Sometimes it gets cold."

"Ooh! You're doing magic? How exciting! Let's see it, then!"

Riku was caught between not wanting to do what Sora wanted him to and wanting to show off his powers to someone. After a moment of a scowling inner debate, he caved in to the latter desire. He hunched forward and his eyes lit up with excitement.

"Alright, watch this," he said. His hands hovered over the frozen toy train, and with a slight flex of his long, pale fingers, the block of ice splintered suddenly with a loud crack and crumbled into pieces, releasing the train from its cold prison. Sora and Roxas' eyes widened and Riku gave a self-satisfied smirk at their reaction. With another twist of his fingers, the broken bits of ice expanded and grew until they once again encompassed the train. The ice kept growing more and more until it rose about a foot in the air and had frozen most of the table, dripping in icicles where it had flowed over the edge.

"Woa!" Sora cried. "That was so awesome!"

"Yeah, I know," Riku gloated, chin in the air. He jumped up off the couch and rushed over to a nearby shelf. He returned to his seat with a candelabra in hand and set it on the table in a spot clear of ice, buzzing with excitement.

"Okay okay, now watch _this_!" he said. Riku flicked his fingers and the candelabra was soon trapped in ice as well, this time in a large, perfectly even cube, all sides as smooth as glass. Sora cheered and Riku leaned back in his chair to admire his work proudly. Roxas jumped up on the table to examine the ice, pawing at the cube lightly.

"So you just sit around all day and freeze stuff?" Sora asked with a chuckle.

"Not _all_ day. Just when I'm bored. Mr. Eraqus says I should practice, and it's kind of fun."

"Who's Mr. Eraqus?"

"He's my tutor. He teaches me magic and other subjects like math and history. I'm getting ready to go to the Academy next year and become a full-fledged mage, so he's preparing me."

"That sounds exciting," said Sora.

Riku shrugged and gave a noncommittal noise. "Maybe," he offered. "But currently it's just exceedingly boring. There's a lot of studying and essay-writing involved, and I have to memorize far too many historical dates."

"Yeah, I guess that would bore me, too." Sora poked at the peak of the small ice mountain covering the train, while Roxas picked his way carefully around the table, making sure not to slip. He circled the cube and started gnawing on one corner.

"Hey! Shoo! Don't eat that! That's mine!" Riku scolded, waving his arms.

"Roxas, don't eat magic ice. It's not nice," said Sora. Roxas glared at Riku before scampering into Sora's warm lap.

"So Sora," Riku sighed, "this has been great and all, but why exactly are you in my house? I told you I never wanted to see you again."

"You never said that!"

"No? Well, I definitely said it in my head."

"That doesn't count. But I have news! Roxas and I found out information about your curse!"

Riku groaned. "You don't have to do that. I don't need any help with my curse, okay? Leave it alone."

"But we know how to break it! Yesterday, my friend Axel—he's a mage, too! He took us to see the Nothing Man, so he could answer some of our questions—"

"You did what!" Riku shrieked, leaping forward in his seat. "You met with the Nothing Man? Are you crazy?"

"Axel said he knew a lot about curses, so we thought he could help," Sora shrugged.

"You could have died! That man is insane! Who in their right mind would _willingly_ go to the Nothing Man?"

"Well, yeah, he did almost eat me and Roxas. But we got away, so it's fine."

Riku gaped at him, and Sora thought his face looked kind of like a fish, with his eyes all bugged out like that and his mouth hanging open.

"But he told us how to break your curse!" he added, hoping Riku would start being more excited.

But Riku only rolled his eyes. "I already know how to break the curse!" he said with an exasperated huff.

"You do?" Sora blinked, surprised.

"Yeah, it's called a _book_, dumbass. They have information inside them and you read them. There are lots of books on curses. The Nothing Man wrote most of them, and people read them so they don't have to talk to him. If you wanted to find out about my curse so badly, you should have looked it up in a book! Why did you pick the absolute most complicated and dangerous way to go about it?"

Sora cocked his head to one side in contemplation. "I don't know. It didn't occur to any of us to read a book."

Riku threw his hands up in the air with a frustrated noise and fell back into his seat. "I can't believe you are such an idiot! You are so lucky to be alive."

"But if you already knew how to break your curse, why haven't you done anything about it?" Sora frowned.

"Stop being dumb. The only way to break it is to have someone with a pure heart to fall in love with me and for me to love them back. That's obviously never going to happen. Even if people with pure hearts actually existed, there's no way we would _fall in love_ or anything." Riku shuddered slightly. "That sounds gross, anyway. Who would want to be in _love_?" He spat the word with disgust and gave a derisive laugh. "The cure sounds worse than the curse."

Sora slumped in his chair with a disappointed frown.

"I guess you risked your life for nothing," Riku shrugged. "Next time, don't jump to the weirdest conclusion to answer a simple question."

"No, it wasn't a waste. We found out other important stuff, too! It turns out you have _two_ curses on you!"

"Huh?" Riku sat up again, frowning in interest. "What do you mean _two_ curses? That can't be right. I would have felt it if I had another one."

"Those shadow monsters that chase you are part of the second curse. That's what the Nothing Man said. He said it was the same kind of curse that he had, where shadow monsters chase you and drain your spirit when they catch you."

"They _what_? They drain my _spirit_?"

"Apparently. And they slowly eat more and more until they steal your soul and fill you with darkness. And after that, a lot of other bad things will happen, because the guy controlling the monsters will take control over you and make you do bad things! And then the shadow monsters will get stronger and eat _everybody's_ soul! And the city will be destroyed! That's what the Nothing Man said. He said it happened to him and to a bunch of other places, and now it's going to happen here!"

"Woah woah woah, slow down! Someone is controlling the monsters? How?"

"I don't know, that's the mystery."

Riku frowned in thought. "But why am _I_ the target? Why do they come after _me_?"

"The Nothing Man said it's because you're a noble and you're a mage, so when they control you, they have more power or something. The point is, it's really bad and we have to find a way to stop it before everybody dies! Cloud said the best way to stop it would be to kill the guy who's controlling the monsters, but I don't really know how to use a sword, so we might have to think of something else. Or maybe we could convince Cloud to kill him. He's really stubborn, though, so I don't know if he would do it."

"Okay, hold on! Let's...let's just say for a minute that I believe you—and I'm not completely sure I do, yet, because this sounds kind of crazy. But _if_ I believe that I have some other curse, how long do you think it would take for them to steal my soul completely?"

"I don't know. The Nothing Man said that the shadow monsters were chasing him for a long time, but when they started coming every night, that's when everything started. How often do they come after you?"

Riku cupped his chin in his hand as he thought about it. "Well, they don't come all that often, I guess. Except for the other day when we got away from them, the last time I saw them was maybe three weeks ago."

"That doesn't sound too bad! Maybe we have time to fix this!" Sora cheered.

"So, who did the Nothing Man say was responsible for all of this?"

Sora opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, brisk knocking on the door interrupted him. All three of them jumped at the suddenness of it.

"Master Riku, are you inside?" called a deep voice from the other side of the door.

"Yes, you may enter."

The door opened, admitting a older man with dark, copper skin and amber eyes that seemed to glow with intensity. He was thin and gamely, and his posture hunched just slightly, dressed in a red tunic and a fine dark coat that reached his tall black boots. His bald head gleamed like a polished silver bowl, and a tuft of coarse gray hair covered his chin, the only discernible hair anywhere on his head. His facial features were sharp, with his cheek bones and brow ridge jutting out in drastic angles, and ears that nearly came to a point at the tip.

"Ah, Master Xehanort, to what do I owe the pleasure," Riku drawled in a tone that made it clear that it was no pleasure at all. The man seemed to take no offense to this, but rather grinned in a nasty sort of way.

"I am here on an errand, My Lord," Xehanort answered smoothly. "It seems that our dear Mr. Eraqus has been expecting you for your lessons these past ten minutes at least. I thought I might save your tutor some trouble, and so offered to come collect you myself."

"How very _kind_ of you," Riku sneered. "Thank you for informing me. I'm afraid I had lost track of the time. I will head down in a moment, you do not need to wait for me. I'm sure you have far more important things to do than to escort me through my own house."

Xehanort's golden eyes slid to land on other occupants of the room, his gaze like cold tethers snaking around their skin, and Sora and Roxas stiffened in their seats.

"I see you have guests. How unusual." His eyes narrowed at Sora's dirty clothes and messy hair, staring him down almost searchingly. His nose wrinkled as if he smelled something rather unpleasant and he finally looked away, and Sora found he could breath once more.

"Yes, and we are quite busy, actually," Riku broke in curtly.

"Of course you are. When is a teenage boy _not_ busy, I dare ask? By all means, carry on with your little commoner friend. Do not let _me_ disturb you." With that, Xehanort turned and left, closing the door softly behind him.

Riku let out a growl as soon as the man had left the room. "Gah, I hate him! He's so gross! Always bothering me for no reason!" He made another frustrated noise as he stood from his chair. "Anyway, I should get going. Mr. Eraqus gets mad if I'm too late and then he gives me extra math problems. Come by tomorrow and we can talk about this curse some more."

"Wait! But Riku—" Sora called, but Riku's long legs had him out of the door in a moment. "Damn, he walks fast!"

"Oh my God! Sora!" Roxas breathed in shock. "That guy!"

"Yeah, I know! He had no eyebrows! What the heck!"

"What? No! That's the guy who controls the shadow monsters!"

"Well _obviously_. I mean, how many guys do you know running around with the name Xehanort? The important thing is that he had no eyebrows! When have you ever seen _that_ before, huh?"

"Mm, I guess you have a point. It did look weird. But I suppose you can't expect a man who eats souls and goes around destroying people's lives to look normal."

"Quite true. I wonder if his evil-ness caused his lack of hair or if his lack of hair caused his evil-ness."

"Who said it had to be one or the other?"

"If it's true, that means you're extra good, Roxas, since you're covered in hair!"

"Well then it's _definitely_ not true," Roxas snorted with a roll of his eyes.

"Alright, let's go. I wonder if Tifa will make dinner for us tonight."

With that, they left, wandering back to the bike and riding home.

* * *

**A/N: There was a lot of eating in this chapter. I guess I was hungry? **

** Thank you to all of you who have reviewed so far! I seriously appreciate it, it honestly makes my day. If you keep reviewing, I will be even happier! And wouldn't you like to make an internet stranger happy? (you would!)**


	6. The Spies and the Soldiers

Late afternoon the next day found Sora and Roxas back at the Jenova mansion, attempting and failing to persuade the gate-man to let them inside to see Riku. The old, round-bellied man gave them his usual steely, suspicious glare, determined not to let them through.

"Why you gotta be so mean, Old Gate Guy? Riku told me to come back today! He's waiting for me. What am I supposed to do if you don't let me through? The fate of the city depends on my meeting with Riku!" Sora scowled.

The gate-man raised a skeptical bush of an eyebrow, unimpressed. "I have worked here for over fifteen years, and never once has Master Riku willingly requested someone visit him. So you will forgive me if I do not believe you," he sniffed.

"I will _not_ forgive you! Unforgivable!" Sora shouted, fists thrust in the air. "I demand to be let through! A crusty big-nose like you can't stop me!"

The nostrils of the man's admittedly rather large nose flared in indignation. "I have been specifically instructed not to let you through. Several maids informed me that you were wandering about the house yesterday afternoon like a common vagabond. This is a well-respected estate, not an amusement park. You may not simply come and go as you please."

"But I have to see Riku! Just ask him, he'll tell you I'm supposed to see him today. He said for me to come back tomorrow, and now it's tomorrow—Well actually it's today, but yesterday today was tomorrow, and that was when yesterday was today, so now tomorrow is today, which is the right day."

"Sir, you are causing a disturbance. I am going to have to ask you to leave."

"No! I shall not be moved! I shall not be silenced! Let me through! The people demand friendship!"

"If you refuse to leave quietly, there are people who will escort you out. And these people are not known for being gentle. It is in your best interests to leave immediately."

Sora opened his mouth to respond that big-nosed bullies could not intimidate him, but stopped short when he felt Roxas pawing at his leg. When he had Sora's attention, Roxas jerked his head to the side, indicating for Sora to follow him, and stalked off away from the mansion. Sora turned back to his foe with a scowl.

"Alright Old Gate Man, you may have won this time, but don't think you can stifle the will of the people so easily! Friendship will prevail even under your oppressive hand!" And with that final declaration, Sora grabbed his bike and followed after the cat, grumbling under his breath.

Down the road a bit, out of sight and ear-shot of the man at the gate, Roxas paused.

"Alright, here is good," he said, looking around suspiciously.

"Good for what?"

"Good for sneaking in, duh. If that man wont let us through, let's just find another way in."

Sora gasped. "Defying the man! Roxas, you're such a radical!"

"Tch, whatever. Just look for some kind of hole in the fence or a tree we can climb."

Sora gave an enthusiastic whoop and started off into the bushes with his bike. Roxas, almost as excited about breaking through the gate as Sora was, yet definitely hiding it better, hopped along after him. They trampled through the hedges, searching for a way in, but the fence proved quite formidable. The tall, sturdy iron bars mocked their attempts to climb or squeeze through. While Roxas could easily slip under the bars, the human-sized Sora was not so fortunate. They made their way slowly around the perimeter of the estate, ducking down into the bushes every now and then when they thought they saw or heard someone nearby, but for the most part, they were undisturbed.

"Hey look at that!" Roxas gasped with excitement. He hunched down in the grass and wiggled his butt a little.

"Do you see a way through?"

"No, it's a bird! Ohmygosh look, it's just sitting there. I bet I could catch it."

"Roxas, we need to focus! This is an important mission, we can't be distracted by temptation."

"Aw shit, there it goes! Ohmygosh! It's flying!" His eyes were big and round as his head jerked to follow the motion.

"Please, like you could have caught it anyway," Sora teased.

"I could, too. You just frightened it away with all your noisy stomping around and your bike—Hey, look, there's another one, be quiet for a sec!"

A small brown bird had landed on nearby branch, one wing held out and beak nipping at its feathers, ignoring the boy and cat completely. Roxas crouched down again, twitching as he prepared for some kind of pounce—though with the bird in a tree and Roxas in the grass, it was unclear how Roxas planned to accomplish an attack.

"Get a hold of yourself, man!" Sora cried. "Think of the mission!"

"But—the bird!" Roxas protested.

"There will be others. We must move on."

Roxas whined, but reluctantly let the bird go with one last glare in its direction. The bird only cocked it's head as it watched them go.

They explored further, hidden mostly behind the bushes and trees until they came across what appeared to be a large hole in the fence. Several of the iron bars had been shattered in some way, their edges rough and jagged. There was space enough for a person to fit through, yet small enough to remain undetected behind the hedges.

"Hee hee, lucky!" Sora grinned.

"I wonder what made this." Roxas frowned as he sniffed the edge of the broken bars cautiously.

"Who cares? Let's go!" Sora locked his bike to the undamaged part of the fence and ducked through.

"I can't believe we really found a hole," Roxas muttered as slipped underneath the fence.

"You're the one who suggested we find one in the first place."

"I know, but I didn't really expect to find a perfect hole like this. What are the odds of that?" But Sora had never been very good at statistics, so he had no answer.

They made their way to the mansion and entered through the front door. Finding Riku's room was much easier this time around, but when they arrived, he was nowhere to be found.

"I guess our luck has run out for now," Sora said with a shrug. "What should we do?"

"We could just wander around until we find him," Roxas offered.

And that's exactly what they did. They made their way back to the ground floor near the rear of the house where Roxas heard people talking. They peered inside any unlocked door they found, but Riku wasn't in any of them.

Then, a door handle Sora had been reaching for turned on its own, and the door opened inward abruptly. A pile of folded blankets with legs stepped out of the room and crashed into Sora before he had time to get out of the way. The pile let out a startled 'eep' and stumbled backwards. The topmost blankets tumbled to the floor, and in their place was Kairi's face, wearing a startled expression.

"Ak! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there! Are you—_Sora_?" she stammered.

"Yes, I am Sora."

"What? No, that's not what I meant. I'm just surprised to see you here again. Oh, and there's Roxas, too. Hello there." Roxas gave her a nod and Kairi smiled.

"Sora, what are you doing going around crashing into people and making them drop things?"

"Ah, sorry. I didn't expect a pile of blankets to run out of the door, though." He stooped to pick up the fallen blankets while Kairi set down her load. "I was looking for Riku. We have an important meeting but I can't find him." He folded up the blankets and handed them to Kairi, who refolded them and set them on top of the others. The room behind them appeared to be the laundry room, and Sora could see at least one other woman standing at a large basin scrubbing at some kind of fabric.

"Riku, huh? I think he's in his lessons with his tutor right now."

"Boo. Do you know when he'll be done?"

"No, but probably about an hour or so." Kairi's face lit up suddenly with a bright smile as an idea struck her. "Hey, why don't you wait with me? We still have to make plans about spying on Namine, don't we?"

"Oh, that's right, the mystery girl! Yes, that is absolutely important."

"Excellent. Here, take some of these blankets for me so they don't fall again. Just follow me, we'll drop them off and then get to planning." Sora received half of the blankets, and he and Roxas followed Kairi down the hall.

They went up to the second floor in the west wing and delivered blankets to several grand rooms which apparently belonged to the Jenova nobles, though there was no sign of them in person. Kairi spread the blankets on each massive bed and tucked their edges underneath the mattresses with the precise effectiveness that comes with repetitive practice of monotonous tasks. Sora, who had been waved away when he offered to help and warned not to touch anything, examined the rooms as closely as he could without disturbing them in any way. The paintings fascinated him most, often depicting men with large hats riding horses or boats sailing in rough water. He took to making faces at the people in the portraits, but they only stared back at him impassively. Roxas sniffed each room they visited in interest and rubbed his cheek on several worthy corners and lamp bases.

Once finished, they headed to the servant's quarters in the back of the house. Kairi's room was small and plain, with three identical beds and dressers which fit as neatly as puzzle pieces in the cramped space. On one of these beds sat a brown-haired girl in a sunshine-yellow dress and maid's apron fussing with her hair in front of a mirror, her face scrunched up and tongue stuck out to one side in concentration. She looked up as they entered, smiling a greeting to Kairi before giving a surprised look to the boy who followed her inside.

"Eh, Kairi, what's this? Since when do you bring cute boyfriends back to your room? You really should have warned me," she said with a sly grin and an impish twinkle in her eye. She gave up whatever she was attempting with her hair and it promptly fell down to her shoulders, thin and straight with a flip at the end like an umbrella's handle.

"Oh hush, you," Kairi scolded. "This is my friend Sora. Sora, this is Selphie. Don't listen to anything she says, it'll turn your brain to mush."

"How rude," Selphie pouted, arms folded and nose in the air. "Mush is gross. Your brain would turn into something more cute, like rainbows."

Kairi gave Sora a look of long-suffering. "My point, exactly," she said flatly.

Selphie only giggled and Sora gave her a grin. Kairi sat on one of the beds and indicated for Sora to sit next to her. Roxas jumped up beside them and walked around the bed with his paws splayed wide as they sunk into the soft blankets under him.

"Oh a kitty!" Selphie squealed and jumped up. "He's sooo precious I just want to eat him up!"

Roxas snapped his ears back defensively and hissed at the girl. But while Roxas was fast, Selphie was faster, and before he was knew what was happening, Roxas found himself in her arms, held like a baby. Selphie cooed and squeezed and swung him around, and though Roxas struggled with all his might, Selphie was definitely stronger than she seemed.

"You probably shouldn't hug him like that," Sora warned with a thoroughly amused smile. "His claws are sharp and he likes to bite."

"But he's my baby and I love him!" Selphie crooned.

Roxas finally managed to fling himself hard enough so that she lost some of her grip on him, and after a few dangerous flashes of his claws, she dropped him with a squeak. The moment his feet touched the floor, he scampered under one of the beds.

"No! Love me!" Selphie cried after him.

"Knock it off," snapped Kairi. "We've got serious business to discuss."

"Eh? What business? I don't have business."

"Sora and I are making plans to figure out what Namine is up to."

"That again, huh? Just let it go, will you? Namine is perfectly nice, she's not up to anything. You just have an overactive imagination."

"_I_ have an overactive imagination? Who's the one always planning a wedding with General Leonhart, huh?"

"Hmph, proves how much _you_ know! I'm through with that rascal. He's too boring. It's all about Captain Irvine, now. Yesterday he _smiled_ at me!"

"You have never met either of them!"

Selphie shrugged. "That doesn't matter. They will fall in love with me, you'll see. And besides, I never said I didn't have an overactive imagination. I just said that you also did."

"I can actually _feel_ my brain turning to mush," Kairi gasped in wonder.

"Rainbows!" insisted Selphie.

"Whatever. So are you going to leave or not? If you don't want to participate, we don't need you bothering us."

"Hey, this is my room, too. I can be here if I want. Besides, I can't just leave you in your room alone with a boy. So much scandal! I should be your chaperone or something."

"It's not like that! We're just scheming!" Kairi scowled, a faint blush appearing at her cheeks.

"I don't mind if she stays," said Sora. "If this is her room, it seems kind of mean to kick her out."

With two against one, Kairi was forced to relent. "Fine, you can stay," she said. "Just don't disrupt us or anything."

"Oh don't mind me, I'll just sit here nice and quietly, not saying anything. You wont even notice me! And if you two want to declare your love for each other, that's fine, too! Just go ahead! I don't mind! It'll be so romantic!" Selphie sighed dreamily.

"Get your head out of the clouds! No one is going to do anything like that! Also, do you have any paper?"

"Why, yes I do!" Selphie rummaged through one of the dressers, producing a thin stack of loose papers. "It's perfect for love notes!"

"It's not for love notes!" Kairi barked as she took the pile. "And thank you for the papers, I appreciate it."

"Well, what are roommates for if not to annoy and then ask for things? Speaking of which, can you help me with my hair? It never stays in the bun, and Mrs. Potts got mad at me for having messy hair this morning. You and Olette always do it so well, but mine always falls out."

"Eh, you might not be using enough pins. Here, let me see." Kairi moved to sit behind Selphie on her bed, tucking her legs underneath her comfortably, as if her earlier frustration with the girl had all but vanished. "Hey Sora, hand me that little blue box on the dresser there."

Sora found the box, apparently filled with an assortment of hair ties and pins, and handed it to the girls on the bed. Tools in hand, Kairi set to work tucking, twisting and pinning Selphie's hair in precise and complex arrangements.

"Sheesh, looks complicated," Sora commented.

"I can do you next, if you want," Kairi offered with with a dangerous smile.

Selphie's face lit up with an equally evil expression. "Oh my god, we have to! Think of all the bows we could tie in his hair!"

"No. No bows." Sora stated firmly. "A man must have his pride."

"Don't let gender roles confine you so much. You should be able to express yourself regardless of social norms," Kairi chided with a grin.

"You can be proud of your bows!" Selphie added.

"I am here for scheming, not for a makeover."

"Fine fine. Let's get scheming, then. I can multitask." Kairi said as she continued fussing with Selphie's hair. "Get the paper. There's a pen and inkwell on the dresser.

"First things first, we should write down all the instances of weird things that I have noticed about Namine. Then, once we have all the information we can get, we should look it over and come up with a plan."

"Okay, I'm ready," said Sora, inkwell out and pen poised over the paper. "What are the weird things?"

"Well first of all, like I told you before, I get this weird feeling from her, the kind I get from people who are lying. Gray and murky. But she doesn't have to actually say anything that could be a lie for me to feel it. She can just walk in a room and I feel like she's lying already. And I'm not really sure what that means. It's never happened to me before."

"Maybe she's always lying? Like one of those people who just lie all the time and can't help it," Sora offered.

"A compulsive liar? Maybe, but sometimes I feel it when she hasn't even said anything."

"Maybe she's lying to _herself_!" cried Selphie. "Like, she's in love with someone and lying to herself and pretending she's not. Or maybe she has a terrible secret that's just eating away at her. Maybe she killed someone! And no one ever found her out!"

Kairi gave a slightly rougher tug on Selphie's hair than she needed to. "If you're going to turn this into a joke, then we don't need you. Just be quiet while I do your hair. And keep still."

"Hey, I was just trying to help, no need to get sassy."

"Whatever, just tone it down. And hand me that bobby-pin."

"I think she has a point," said Sora. "Maybe you feel like she's always lying because she had one great big lie that she always thinks about."

"Don't twist Selphie's words so that they make sense."

"Hey, I like him!" Selphie laughed.

"So what other weird things has she done?"

Kairi paused in thought. "Well, she's worked here for years, but no one knows her at all. And she never talks to anyone. I mean, if you've worked somewhere long enough and you live with the same people, you eventually get to know them at least a _little_. It's weird that no one knows her."

"Maybe she's just a private person," Selphie said.

"But how can a person be _that_ private? I mean, what do we know about her, really?"

"Well..." Selphie began thoughtfully, "I know that she likes to draw. I've seen her drawing before. And I know she always says no when I ask if she wants to come into town with us. And she always seems very tired."

"Memory-wise, though. Try to think back to more distant memories, over a year at least."

"Um...I remember her doing chores, I guess, but I don't think I ever really thought to talk to her until just recently. She's always been very quiet."

"But that's weird, right? Since you've always gone up and talked to everyone who has ever worked here. You know almost everyone's life story except for her!" Kairi exclaimed.

"It's true, I am quite nosy. Charmingly so, of course."

"Of course," Sora agreed.

"When I think back to my memories of her...they just feel kind of funny. And that's another thing, too! My memories of her are weird. Like they're fuzzy and unclear, but not the way normal memories are. They give me a weird feeling, like there's something wrong about the memories I have of her."

"And I keep telling you, Kairi, that doesn't make sense! How can something be wrong about a memory?" Selphie argued.

"I don't care if it doesn't make sense to you. Something is wrong about it."

"Hm, weird memories, got it," Sora said as he scribbled on the paper. "That sounds like a tough one, I have no idea what that would be about."

"Also, sometimes Namine acts like she doesn't know her way around," Kairi continued. "She gets lost sometimes in the house or makes mistakes that only recently hired maids would ever make. She doesn't act like a maid who has worked here for years at all. The other day, she delivered Master Yazoo's shirts to Master Loz. Lumiere was half-way through dressing Master Loz when he realized why the shirt wouldn't fit—it was three sizes too small! I mean, how can you mistake those two?"

"So she's a bad maid, so what? We've all made mistakes."

"Not like that, not if you've been working here for years."

"So what exactly are you suggesting?"

"I'm not sure! That's why we have to investigate!"

"Okay, here's what I have so far," Sora announced, reading off the paper. "Always lying about something mysterious, mysteriously private, mysterious weird memories, mysteriously bad at being a maid."

"I think there's something mysterious about your word choices," said Kairi.

Sora shrugged. "It is what it is."

She gave a snort. "Alright, Selphie, I finished your hair. This should hold through a wind storm."

Selphie cheered and jumped up from the bed to admire herself in the mirror. The bun was perfectly round and even, without a hair out of place. "Ah it's so great! Now I'm all fancy and stuff!" She turned her head in various poses to see every angle she could. "Thank you thank you _thank_ you Kairi-sensei, you really have to teach me how to do this sometime."

"Sure, sure," Kairi said with a wave of her hand. "But right now we have to get back to business."

"Is it time to spy?" Sora asked eagerly.

"I believe it is!" she declared.

"Ooh, you never said you were spying! I want to spy too!" Selphie cried.

"You can come with us, but you have to stay quiet."

"I promise! Cross my bun and hope to die!"

And so they set out, with Roxas trailing a safe distance from Selphie's grabby hands, to the dining room where Namine was scheduled to be cleaning, according to the assignment of house duties for that day. The doors to the dining room were wide open when they arrived, so they hid behind the door frame and peered cautiously inside.

The dining room was as large and ornate as the rest of the mansion, with walls decorated in extravagant paintings and embellished with glinting silver trimming. A large, gleaming wooden table in the center ran most of the length of the room, covered in unlit candelabras and a colorful flower centerpiece. The room was empty but for a young maid dusting the fireplace mantle. She was a small girl, as thin and fragile as a paper doll, with skin nearly as pale as the marble she was cleaning. She seemed to be struggling somewhat with her dusting task, and a number of small dirt sprites could be seen scurrying around her in a frenzy, avoiding her feather duster with ease. Several strands of her blonde hair had fallen loose from her maid's cap and she huffed with frustration.

"Stop it, you!" she was muttering at the dirt sprites, cheeks flushed. "Just get out of here, I'm trying to clean! Quit being so mean, this is my job! Be gone already!"

But the dirt sprites ignored her pleas and continued scuttling about the mantle. Several dropped to the floor and began circling her feet, as if to make her trip. Fed up, she crushed one with a vehement stomp. Its comrades froze when she lifted her foot to reveal its dust remains, and she smiled in grim success. But then, much to the maid's horror, the dust quivered and reformed into several smaller sprites. All the sprites rejoiced, sensing their enemy's imminent defeat, and their wild frenzy only grew.

"What a rookie mistake," Kairi scoffed quietly from their hiding place. "Namine should know better than to show them fear, she's losing control of the situation completely. Where's her polishing spray? That's all she needs to get rid of them."

"So that's Namine, huh?" Sora whispered, watching as the girl began wielding her duster like a sword against the dirt sprites.

Selphie nodded the affirmative. "That's her, alright. Skinny ankles and all. She's like a hummingbird, so small and delicate. Every time I look at her, I just want to bring her hot cocoa or something."

Sora nodded in interest and jotted down 'hot cocoa' into the notes.

"So what are we going to do now?" he asked. "Just stay here and watch her?"

"Yeah, I guess. When she leaves, we'll follow and see if she does anything suspicious," said Kairi.

"I feel bad, maybe we should help her."

"Don't be stupid, Selphie, if we help her, our mission will be compromised," Kairi said.

"Huh?" Selphie frowned. "I didn't say anything."

"Yeah, she didn't say anything. That was me."

Kairi, Sora, and Selphie blinked for the half-second it took them to realize that the voice hadn't belonged to any of them. They turned to find Olette crouched next to them, who smiled and waved a hand in greeting.

"Hi," she chirped.

Kairi, Sora, and Selphie shrieked in surprise at her sudden appearance, and Olette shrieked in surprise at their shrieking. Kairi recovered first and clamped her hands over Sora and Selphie's mouths.

"Shh! You guys she'll hear us," she hissed.

They all quieted instantly, holding their breath as they looked back into the room. Namine appeared not to have noticed them, absorbed as she was with the dirt sprites, who were now attempting to knock things off every table in the room. Namine rushed back and forth trying to catch everything they dropped, her arms now full of vases and a candles. She gasped when she saw them aiming for a highly breakable tea set at the other end of the room.

In their hiding spot, Kairi, Sora, and Selphie let loose a relieved sigh.

"Olette, what are you doing here?" Kairi whispered.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she answered, lowering her voice without really knowing why. "I was just walking by and I saw you all huddled here. Hi Sora, nice to see you again."

Sora smiled and waved hello. "We're spying on Namine," he answered. "Kairi says she's suspicious."

"This again, Kairi? I thought we decided she was fine."

"_You_ decided," Kairi argued. "I still think something is weird about her."

"Do you want to spy with us?" Sora asked.

"Okay, sounds fun," Olette smiled. She settled next to them and they all peered into the dining room at Namine. The girl had somehow caught the tea set perfectly on a tray, but she was overloaded with things and her balance wavered dangerously. They watched as she rushed to set everything down on the table while the sprites, who had multiplied into small dirt army, scurried toward her in a wave. She yelped as they reached her, kicking her feet to fling away the ones who had crawled on her shoes.

"Where's her polish spray?" Olette asked.

"We don't know," Selphie answered. "This is so sad to watch, but I just can't look away." The group nodded in agreement.

After a few minutes of an intense battle, Namine eventually found her polish spray, grinning in victory as an attack finally managed to work. Realizing that she had suddenly become stronger, the dirt sprites began to flee, and Namine chased them down, wielding the spray bottle in one hand and the duster in the other. Once they had all been successfully scrubbed away, she stood panting, her face twisted into a wicked smile, wild with triumph. After a moment, she collected herself, tucked her hair away, and straightened her rumpled gray dress before wiping down the table and arranging the silverware.

"That was so awesome."

"Yeah, I definitely would have paid money to watch that."

The group hiding behind the door blinked again as they registered two new voices. Then they all shrieked unison.

Two teenage boys had joined their group without their noticing. One was slightly on the plump side in a huggable, teddy-bear way, wearing a footman's neat coattails and slacks. Warm brown eyes and an almost button-like nose were set in a round face, and his thick dark hair was slicked back with the help of a rather fragrant pomade. The second was more lean and muscularly built, dressed in a loose green shirt and leather vest over breeches and muddy boots. His skin was bronze-tan and his face lightly sunburnt, suggesting long hours spent outdoors. His hazel eyes and sharp mouth had a cocky glint, suggesting something snarky on the tip of his tongue. His hair was a mess of straw-colored curls which seemed to be breaking free from an earnest attempt to smooth them back.

"Pence! Hayner! What the heck are you guys doing here?" hissed Kairi, her heart still racing from shock.

"You guys scared us half to death!" Selphie added breathlessly, one hand on her chest, perhaps to keep her heart from escaping.

"I'm sorry, but it's not my fault that I'm so shockingly handsome. You ladies should really get used to it," the blond boy said with a arrogant smirk.

"Oh shut it, Hayner," snarled Kairi. "If anything, we were shocked by how disgusting you are. What are you doing tramping around here in those muddy boots? You're getting dirt everywhere."

"You're welcome to clean them off if you want," the boy said slyly. "You know I like to watch you on your knees."

As soon as the words were out, Kairi's fist went flying. She socked him in the shoulder hard enough for his eyes to bulge slightly.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry!" he wheezed, rubbing his shoulder. "Good Lord you're strong."

"Clean your own damn boots," Kairi spat.

"We're really sorry we scared you!" said the second boy plaintively. "We thought you all knew we were there."

"Don't worry about it," Olette laughed. "They did the same thing to me when I accidentally snuck up on them."

"Hi I'm Sora!" Sora butted in. He offered the two boys a sunshine smile.

"Hello, I'm Pence," said the dark-haired boy pleasantly. "I'm an assistant footman. And this rouge here is Hayner, he's a stable hand. I don't think I've seen you around before, are you new? What's your position?"

"No, I don't work here. I'm Kairi's friend. We're spying on Namine."

Hayner gave him an odd frown. "Kairi's _friend_, huh? Well it's great that Kairi has a social life and all, but this isn't really the place to come hang out, you know."

"Come off it, Hayner. _You_ bring people around the stable all the time," defended Selphie.

Back in the dining room, Namine paused in her cleaning and looked up. "Is someone there?" she called.

The group by the door froze, their eyes wide in fear of discovery. They pressed themselves against the wall as flat as they could, as if doing so would prevent them from being seen, should Namine come out of the room and investigate. They all held their breath, wondering how exactly they would explain what they were doing.

"Oh? What are you doing there? I _thought_ I heard somebody," said Namine. Kairi was moments away letting out the string of apologies on her tongue when she heard Namine continue: "What an adorable cat. Were you the one making all that noise? How on earth did you get in here?"

"Oh no, the cat!" Selphie gasped.

They chanced a look inside and saw Roxas standing in the middle of the dining room, allowing Namine to scratch his chin and coo over him.

"Ah, excellent work, Roxas, distracting the suspect with your cuteness power," muttered Sora. "A brave comrade indeed."

"You guys, she's coming this way," Pence warned quietly. And indeed, she had stood up from petting Roxas and was walking toward the door. They scrambled away and hid behind a corner.

Namine walked through the doorway, Roxas trotting at her heels. She looked around with a slight frown, as if sensing the six pairs of eyes watching her closely. She shrugged to herself and moved on down the hall away from where they were hidden.

"Let's follow her," Kairi whispered when Namine had turned a corner.

They followed after her in a line, making their way as quietly as they could, but when they rounded the bend Namine had disappeared behind, she was nowhere to be seen. They had reached the main entryway of the mansion, but instead of the little blonde maid, they found several soldiers in full uniform arguing loudly, both with each other and with a fat butler sporting a pencil mustache. The group immediately huddled back around the corner, peering discretely into the hall at the men.

"I don't care _where_ he is or _what_ he is doing, I need to speak with him _now_!" a tall man with a shaggy mane of shoulder-length brown hair was snarling at the butler. The scene rather resembled a lion arguing with a rabbit, and the butler seemed in danger of being eaten.

"_Do_ calm down, General. He is in an extremely important meeting with his adviser at the moment, but I will inform him you are here—" tried the butler, hands raised defensively.

"Don't tell me to calm down, you rotted peach! This is more important that some fucking meeting. This is a _state emergency_, and if I don't talk to Sephiroth in the next ten _seconds_, I will personally _gut you like a fish_!"

The butler gulped noticeably. He gave the General a stiff nod and said through clenched teeth "I will do my best to fetch him, sir," before hurrying up the stairs, tail between his legs.

"God, what an absolute _idiot_!" the General growled. He looked just about ready to breath fire, with his fists clenched and his broad shoulders rigid.

"Go easy on him, Leonhart. He's just trying to do his job," argued a blond soldier with a facial tattoo over his eye standing next to him. "Sephiroth probably told him not to let anybody disturb him. If Sephiroth told _me_ not to let anybody bother him while he was doing something, I would try to stop a stampede."

"Well _I'm_ just trying to save our city from war and complete ruin, so _excuse_ me if I have little patience with people standing in my way!"

"Quit shouting at me like this is all my fault, will ya?"

"Well how do I know it isn't? I don't know what the fuck is going on and everyone is off in some fucking meeting! And where the _hell_ is Aqua? Didn't I send someone to get her? You! Go find Aqua and bring her here, dammit!" he snapped at third man. "And if anyone tells you she's _busy_ for whatever the fuck reason, shove a bayonet up their ass." The soldier scurried off to do as he was told.

"Oh my God, it's General Leonhart! He's so dreamy!" Selphie sighed, hands clasped together and stars in her eyes.

"I thought you were over him," Kairi teased quietly.

"Yeah, but just _look_ at him! He's so hot when he's all worked up about something."

"Whatever, I don't see what's so great about him," Hayner muttered, only to be promptly shushed by all three girls.

"I think we might not be the only spies in this room," Pence whispered. He indicated a pillar near the edge of the room where, sure enough, Namine was hidden in the shadows with Roxas at her feet. She was watching the group of soldiers intently.

"So she's spying on soldiers. That is extremely suspicious," said Kairi.

"Technically, we're spying on soldiers, too," said Olette. Kairi frowned at her, but Olette only shrugged.

Another tall blond soldier with stone-carved muscles strode into the hall, and the group of soldiers along with both groups of spies looked up.

"What's up, Chicken-wuss," he said. "I thought I heard you yelling."

"Shut up, Almasy. If you don't have anything to tell me about the Mi'ihan attack, I don't want to hear another word out of you," General Leonhart snarled.

"Woa there, tiger. Does someone need a nap? You're all kinds of feisty today."

"Three Alexandrian citizens are _dead_, Almasy, this is not some kind of joke. I need to find out what the hell our soldiers were doing on Mi'ihan road and why the fuck they attacked and killed unarmed Alexandrian citizens. Who _knows_ what Brahne will do—this is _exactly _the kind of thing to incite her to launch an attack on us."

"I know, I _know_, but you're not gonna get anywhere shouting your ugly head off, now are you? Have you talked to Aqua yet? What does she say?"

"No, I have _not_ talked to her yet. I've sent maybe ten people to go find her. And Terra, and Auron, but every fucking person I need has decided to play hookie or something, so all I have is _you_."

"And me!" added the tattooed soldier, but no one seemed to pay him any attention.

"Don't worry, they're probably just taking a piss or something. Calm your tits and let's set up the meeting room. It'll give us something to do."

"You can do that," Leonhart said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm going to wait here for Sephiroth."

"Suit yourself," Almasy said with a shrug. He and the rest of the soldiers walked off, leaving General Leonhart alone in the entryway.

Well, nearly alone, at least.

"Hi there!" chirped Sora.

General Leonhart looked up, startled to find a boy suddenly at his elbow.

"Um, hi. Can I help you?" he asked uncertainly. The boy was looking at him intently with wide blue eyes, and Leonhart found it more than a little unnerving.

Back in the shadows, the spies were all gasping in terror, wondering how Sora had managed to slip by without their noticing. Did he have a death with, approaching that man? Surely the General would rip his head off with the state he was in.

"You're General Leonhart, right? Squall Leonhart?" Sora asked. Up close, Sora could see the man had narrow eyes the color of a rainy day, thin lips pulled into a tight frown, and sharp, chiseled features. His overall menacing look was enhanced by a severe scar running from above his right eye, across the bridge of his nose, to the cheek below his left eye. Sora thought he remembered seeing him in the military parade.

"I am. Who's asking?"

"I'm Sora. Hey, do you know a guy named Cloud Strife?"

Squall Leonhart gave a start. Out of all the potential things he had been expecting the kid to say, nothing could have prepared him for that particular question.

"Excuse me?" he asked, face frozen in an expression that could almost be surprise.

"Cloud Strife. Do you know him? Blond, not that tall, frowns a lot, eats a lot of lettuce. Because Tifa said that Cloud knew someone named Squall a long time ago, and Zack thought it might be you. So, is it you?"

"I...How—how do you know Cloud?" Squall Leonhart's face tightened into a stony frown.

"I work for him at his delivery shop."

"His _what_?"

"His delivery shop," Sora repeated. "We deliver stuff to people. Well, _I_ do most of the delivering, and he does the more business-y part. So you know him, then?"

"I...well I used to. I mean, it's been years, so I don't really—Wait, you mean Cloud is _here_? He's in Nomura? And he has...a delivery shop?"

"Yeah."

"Cloud. Cloud _Strife_ is currently living in Nomura as a _shopkeeper_?"

"Yeah. Are you deaf?"

"What? Am I—no I'm not _deaf_. Listen kid, I'm a very busy man in the middle of a crisis situation. I do not have time to answer all of your weird-ass questions. What do you mean, coming up to me, just walking up out of nowhere, asking questions about Cloud-fucking-Strife, dragging up old memories of things best left forgotten. What the hell do you _want_?"

Sora shrugged and slipped his hands in his back pockets idly. "I was just wondering if you were really they guy Cloud was in love with. That's all."

"_What_? If I was _what_?"

"You _are_ deaf, aren't you?"

"You little—_what_? You—why would—he—but...he _what_?" the man stammered. And it was quite a sight to see this proud, powerful man completely at a loss for words.

"You're kind of funny," Sora laughed, rocking back on his heels.

"I—you...wh—he—_what_?" was all Squall Leonhart was able to manage.

At that moment, the front doors of the mansion burst open with a flurry, and a group of officers in mage army uniforms rushed in. At their head was a lean woman with a short bob of blue hair walking at a remarkably fast pace. Her sharp blue eyes belied her otherwise soft features, and her face was set with grim severity.

"Leonhart, we've got some serious damage control to do," she said in a cutting tone which, though she was far from shouting, easily carried across the room. "If we're not careful, we could have a bloody war on our hands."

"You don't have to tell _me_ twice," Leonhart snapped. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Well, now I'm here." She and the soldiers stopped when they reached where Sora and Leonhart were standing. She gave Sora a stern, assessing look. "Can I help you?" she asked him.

"Nope," Sora said with a cheerful smile. He gave Leonhart one last cheeky grin before turning sharply on his heel and wandering away.

"Alright, let's go, Leonhart, they're waiting for us in the meeting room," the woman said. She and her group marched off in the direction Almasy and the other soldiers had gone, as briskly as buzzing bees.

"I _know_ they are," Leonhart muttered under his breath, wondering how exactly he had become the late one in this situation. He looked back to Sora's retreating figure, lips parted slightly as if he meant to call after him. But he seemed to think better of it, and shook his head before following after the soldiers.

Back in the shadows, the group of spies was gaping open-mouthed at Sora.

"What the hell!" Hayner finally broke the silence, his eyes wide and the sunburn bright on his cheeks. "What were you thinking? You can't just talk to the army general like that!"

"Why not?" Sora asked, head tilted to one side in confusion.

"Because...well, he's the general! And you're...not." Hayner choked out, fumbling for words. There was _definitely_ a reason common people could not simply start a chat with the lead general of the Nomura army, but he couldn't quite think of what it was. He looked around at the others pleadingly, hoping they could back him up, but no one else could come up with a good answer, either.

"Well, I had a question I wanted to ask him," Sora said, as if it really was as simple as that.

Roxas trotted over and rubbed his side leisurely on Sora's leg. Sora bent to scratch the cat's back and looked over to the spot where Namine had been standing.

"Our suspect has disappeared," he noticed.

"Eh? Crap! Where did she go?" said Kairi, looking wildly around the room. But Namine had vanished once again.

"Whatever, forget that chick, let's do something fun," Hayner said.

"Spying was pretty fun," said Selphie.

"It was certainly exciting," agreed Olette.

"Don't you guys have work to do?" Kairi wondered idly.

"Don't _you_?" Hayner shot back.

"Maybe," Kairi said with a vague shrug. "But we have a mystery to solve."

"Should we go find her, then? Roxas probably knows where she went." said Sora.

"Well, maybe we could stop for now. Our investigation has yielded some interesting results."

"Has it?" asked Olette.

"Indeed it has. Sora, let me see the notes you were taking." He handed her the paper and she looked it over with a frown. "Sora, this is entirely illegible," she concluded. "There's no way I can read this."

"Oh, give it to Pence," said Olette. "He's great at figuring out messy handwriting."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Pence said with an embarrassed blush.

"Nonsense! I've seen you work wonders with those notes Master Kadaj gives you. And _his_ writing is like scribble."

With a bashful smile, Pence accepted the page of Sora's notes about their spy investigation. Kairi and Selphie gave Olette a pointed, knowing look, which she ignored. Pence squinted and turned the page several different directions before finding what seemed to be the right one. He held the paper up to his nose, then pulled it away as far as his arm would allow. After a few moments of his close examination, Pence finally spoke up.

"Okay, so the first part is some kind of list. The word 'mysterious' is used a lot. Then there's the word 'battle' next to what appears to be a doodle of dust sprites with spears. There are speech bubbles, but I can't figure them out. And there's something written here that might be 'hot-cocoa' next to a smiley face. I can't really make out the rest of it, but I think this is the word 'polish' next to either a question mark or a figure eight."

"You know, if Sora's the one who wrote it, I'm sure he can tell us what it says," Hayner said flatly.

Pence blushed again, finding the show of his talents to have been a waste.

"No, that's basically what it says," said Sora with an approving nod. "It's a question mark, though, not a figure eight."

"Yeah, I thought so. I was trying to take context into consideration."

"And at the bottom, it says 'the spy-ee has become the spy-er,'" Sora clarified.

"Really? So that was an 's' after all!"

"You could be a code breaker, Pence," Olette cheered, laughing softly.

Pence smiled with pride.

"Alright alright, let's do something else, now. I'm bored," Hayner insisted.

"Hey Kairi, do you think Riku might be done with his lessons yet?" Sora asked.

"He is," answered Pence. "I definitely saw him on his way to the small library before I ran into you all."

With that information, Sora said his prompt goodbyes, promising to see them again soon, and went off with Roxas in search of his friend.

* * *

**A/N: It's posted at last! I hope you enjoy it. **

**Fun Fact, I have a whole soundtrack to this story, and the song belonging to this chapter is called _Pizzicato-Polka _written by Johann Strauss II****. The particular version I am listening to is done by the Vienna Walzer Orchestra. Look it up if you want. You don't have to, though.**

**Can I haz review?**


	7. The Memory Witch

Riku was not all that surprised when Sora and his yellow cat burst through the door to his library, but he put on a perfunctory frown just the same.

"Yo!" Sora greeted energetically. He bounded over to where Riku was lounging, feet-up, on the couch reading a book, and threw himself into an armchair across from him with a _thwump. _Roxas settled down in a particularly cushioned chair in the far corner of the room and proceeded to nap. Riku remained lounging casually, though he knew, if he were to witness this, his uncle would have lectured him about how a respectable noble should act in front of guests and ordered him to sit up politely. Riku didn't do polite, though. He found such things tedious and detestable. Sora didn't seem to notice the insult.

"Whacha readin'?" he asked, nodding to the book in Riku's hands.

"Nothing your simple mind would be able to understand, I'm sure," Riku drawled as he turned the page.

"Is it about tran-sen-dental-ism?" Sora asked, pronouncing the word slowly and deliberately. "Because I can never understand what the heck that stuff is about. Aerith is always trying to explain it to me, but I just don't get it."

Riku raised an eyebrow at him, and the corner of his mouth curved traitorously into a half-smile. "No, it's not about Transcendentalism," he said, a ghost of a chuckle in his voice. "It's a novella about a man who wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a giant, disgusting bug. And his family hates him and wishes he was dead because he's such a terrible burden to take care of. Eventually he dies, and then everyone is extremely happy."

"That's how it ends?"

"Yes. It's one of my favorites. I've read it at least four times by now. It's not very long."

"Why does he turn into a bug?"

"There's no explanation for that, actually. It's sort of besides the point, anyway."

"And _that's_ your favorite book?" Sora asked dubiously.

"One of them, yes," Riku replied, haughtily, slightly irritated with Sora's tone. "Why, what's _yours_?"

Sora shrugged. "I don't know. But one time I read this book about a girl who goes to this crazy world and makes friends with a lot of crazy creatures, and she has to fight this evil witch who's after her magic shoes."

"Very intellectual, I'm sure," Riku said flatly, rolling his eyes.

"I liked it," Sora said happily, bouncing slightly in his chair. "In one part, a house falls on this other witch. A _house_! Those don't usually fall on people."

Roxas made a huffing sound from the corner. When Sora looked over, Roxas gave him a pointed look and flicked his tail impatiently.

"Oh, right! I got distracted! We need to talk about this shadow monster business!" Sora exclaimed.

"I'm listening," Riku yawned. Though he didn't seem to be listening, absorbed with his book as he was. But Sora was not deterred.

"So," he began, launching off as if he had been saving all of his words for this precise moment. "It's super not good and if we don't do something about it, a whole bunch of bad things are going to happen. And I figure since you're the one who is being attacked and I'm the one who knows about it, we're the ones who have to do something, right? I told you yesterday that the Nothing Man said the shadow monsters steal your soul somehow. That's what they did to the him and that's why he's all weird, so if we don't do anything, you'll turn into a gross gooey monster guy, too. Also everyone will die. And that's bad. So we have to stop the bad guy. But I don't really know how to do that. What do you think?"

Riku raised an eyebrow at him, for Sora had said the whole speech in a single breath, which was at least slightly impressive. He placed a thin ribbon to mark his place in his book before closing it and setting it aside. "You know, you still haven't told me who this supposed bad guy is," he said. He stretched out on the couch a bit more, working out a few kinks in his back.

"Oh you're right, I forgot cuz you had to leave. It's that no-eyebrows guy, Xehanort ."

Riku balked and sat up. "_Xehanort_? As in, my uncle's adviser, Xehanort?"

"Yeah, who else do you know who has no eyebrows?"

"That's _hardly_ his most defining feature," Riku scoffed. "I would have said it's his dumb goblin-ears."

Sora considered this, frowning thoughtfully. "Well I suppose his ears are pretty weird, too."

"Of _course_ they are," Riku said smugly. Then he blinked, realizing that he had gotten off track. "So Xehanort is stealing away my soul with shadows? You think he's the one?"

"Yup, that's what Mr. Goo said. Apparently he was some kind of adviser in the other cities he destroyed, too."

Riku's eyes widened considerably in shock. With a furrowed brow, he began reexamining all the interactions he had ever had with the man, sifting through every memory of his menacing demeanor, his dark sneer of a smile, and all the times he had seemed to go out of his way to bother Riku. "That's...actually not all that surprising, I guess," he concluded. "If I had to pick one person in the mansion who I thought likely to be an evil soul-stealing city-destroyer, it would definitely be Xehanort. It's the pointy-ear thing, I guess."

"It's the no-eyebrow thing," Sora insisted. "Like, his face isn't complete! How do you know if he is frowning or sad or surprised?"

"Having pointy ears is definitely more evil-looking than having no eyebrows. But that's beside the point!" Riku's eyebrow twitched slightly, though it was more out of irritation at being contradicted than at getting off track again.

"Listen, Sora, I have to tell you something," he said seriously. His fair features were set in a grave expression and he leaned forward in his seat. "Last night the shadow monsters came again. They caught me. I couldn't get away this time, I wasn't fast enough. And when I woke up, I...I could _feel_ it. I felt different. It's as if...a part of me is missing. Or just _off_ somehow. I don't remember feeling all that different whenever they caught me before, but maybe it's because now I'm looking for it, since you told me about what they do. It's...disconcerting to say the least. So I believe you. If they really are stealing my soul...I believe you."

Sora's eyes were wide. "That's great!" he cried. "Well—not about them getting you, obviously," he amended. "But about you believing me. People never believe me when I tell them things. I don't know why."

"I want you to tell me again what _exactly_ the Nothing Man told you about this curse and about Xehanort," Riku said, his frown deepening. "And do it _slowly_ this time. And try to have your explanation make actual sense. It might be difficult for you, because clearly you like to ramble, but seriously, my life is at stake here. I need to know _exactly_ what is going on."

And so Sora set down explaining everything that he had learned from the Nothing Man in further detail. It was a long and very involved explanation, as Sora tended to get off track, and Riku had to stop him and ask him to clarify or repeat some parts. Riku asked enough interrogative questions to tire out a lesser interviewee, but Sora, as energetic as a rubber ball, answered everything to the best of his ability. After perhaps twenty minutes, Riku was satisfied with his information, and leaned back in his seat with a troubled sigh.

"One would think that my uncle would have done a better background check on this guy before hiring him as a political adviser," Riku said. "I mean, even without knowing that he was a psychotic shadow mage, every city he works for meets a violent and bloody demise. Not exactly a good resume."

"Maybe he interviews well," guessed Sora.

A grin appeared on Riku's lips, but was quickly suppressed. "Yes, perhaps Xehanort's creepy sociopathic personality appealed to my uncle. Sephiroth isn't exactly warm and friendly, and besides the possessing and murdering thing, they seem to have a bit in common."

"So what do you think we should do?"

"Well, first of all, we have to find a way to keep the shadows from stealing my soul anymore. That's number one, I think. Because if they don't steal my soul, then Xehanort's plans are immediately foiled. And besides, it's just so...I feel _violated_. It's not right." Riku gave a disturbed shudder at the memory of shadowy claws on his skin.

"And how should we do that?"

Riku considered this. "Well, we know that they don't like light, but at night, lamps are mostly useless against them—they aren't strong enough. They certainly didn't help me last night, even when I was indoors. I've noticed that if I try to make a blockade with ice, it seems to stall them a bit, but they always manage to get through eventually. But we know that it _is_ possible to outrun them, as you have clearly demonstrated."

"I've got it! Why don't you stay with me?" Sora exclaimed.

"What? Why would I do that?"

"If you stick with me, we can get on my bike and outrun them again if they try to come after you! Duh."

"No," was Riku's flat response.

"What? Why not? What's wrong with that plan?"

"Once again, you are jumping to the most extreme conclusion. Let's think of something else."

"It's not extreme," Sora defended. "You need to outrun the monsters and I'm the only one who can outrun them. Come on, it'll be fun! Like a sleepover!"

"No. I have things to do, I have a life. I have my lessons to go to and exams to study for and all kinds of family obligations to keep. I can't just drop everything and stay with you for some undetermined amount of time. Besides, Sephiroth would hardly let me leave the mansion to live with some commoner boy."

"But it wouldn't be all the time, it would just be at night. So you'd still have time to do all your Riku stuff the rest of the day."

"How about we keep coming up with other ideas," Riku said, massaging his temple in exasperation. "We'll brain-storm for a bit. And once we have come up with every possible plan, we can pick from them."

"Okay...well what if you learned to ride a bike really fast like me?" Sora tried again. "Then you could get away from the monsters on your own. I could teach you how!"

Riku gave him a look clearly expressing how he felt about _that_ idea. As if he would ever subject himself to something as childish and unsophisticated as _riding a bike_. And with that established, he moved on. "You know, I should probably just talk to Mr. Eraqus about it. He might know some kind of protective spell that could keep them away." He made a sour face at this, however, as if it was a last resort that he did not relish in taking.

"Are there really spells like that?" Sora's eyes widened with excitement. "Magic is so weird!"

Riku slouched in his seat. "I probably should have just gone to him when this all started," he grumbled.

"So why didn't you?"

"Well, I don't know," he answered in growing discomfort. He tugged on a lock of his long hair absently and chewed the inside of his cheek. "I just thought it was a part of my other curse, how was I supposed to know it would turn out to be so bad? It was just kind of strange at first. Maybe a _tiny_ bit scary—to _most_ people, I mean. _I_ wasn't really that afraid of them—but they didn't seem to actually be doing anything that I could tell. Besides...I just...didn't feel like talking about it."

"Are you going to tell your uncle? If his adviser is a crazy person trying to kill everyone in the city, he should probably know about it, right?"

Riku was quiet for a moment before replying. "I know I should at least _try_ to warn him, but I wasn't lying when I said Sephiroth and Xehanort get along well. He probably wont believe me if I tell him. He never listens to me anyway. And if I tell him, Xehanort is sure to find out. Then he will know that we know about him, and who knows what he'll do then. He might change his plan, or maybe accelerate it in some way. Or maybe he'll just kill us." He shook his head firmly. "No, I don't think I'll tell Sephiroth. Mr. Eraqus might be enough."

"So that's our plan, then? Tell your teacher guy about it?"

"I guess. I mean, I can always do some research. There must be something written about shadow magic _some_where."

"What about me?" Sora asked.

"What _about_ you?"

"What should I do? To help with the plan, I mean."

Riku shrugged. "You can go back to your life, I guess. I don't see why you need to do anything. Besides, I don't know how a delivery boy could help anyway."

Sora was visibly crestfallen, with eyes as wide and hurt as a puppy denied a bone, and despite himself, Riku felt compelled stop him from looking like that, sensing danger. "I mean, it's not like you haven't been helpful so far," he added with uncharacteristic sympathy, fearful that an upset Sora would be even more trouble to deal with than an excited Sora. "I wouldn't have known about any of this if not for you, but you don't have to worry anymore. Mr. Eraqus and I will be able to take care of it, I'm sure. It'll be alright."

Sora drooped in his seat like a wilted plant, his lips pursed with disappointment. He had been looking forward to an adventure, after all, and to have it cut short because he was simply not needed was definitely a blow. But Sora was not one to dwell on things that made him sad, and after a moment he shook it off. Besides, being told not to do something had certainly never stopped Sora before—in fact, sometimes that was half the fun. He could still find a way to be a part of this adventure, he was sure.

Riku was initially relieved when he saw Sora's frown fade, but the mischievous smile that replaced it made him suddenly wary.

"So what do you want to do now?" Sora asked.

"Well, _I_ was going to go back to reading my book. I suppose you can go off somewhere else, preferably away from here."

"Nah, that's boring. Why don't we go get ice cream?"

"Why would I do that?" Riku scoffed. "If I wanted to, I could get someone to _bring_ me ice cream _right here_. I don't have to go anywhere."

Sora's face lit up with delight and awe, and Riku grinned smugly.

"Can you really do that? That's so cool! Let's have someone bring us ice cream!" he cried.

And so, as a show of his amazing power, Riku called for a maid by tugging on a cord with a brass loop hanging from the wall. A minute later, a maid appeared in the doorway with a slight bow. With a start, Sora realized it was Namine, the blonde maid they had been spying on earlier. Up close, Sora noticed that she seemed very tired, as if she had not slept in days. He and Roxas exchanged a look.

Her pale blue eyes swept the room, resting curiously on the cat in the corner. She gave Sora an odd look as well, but Sora figured that to be the same surprise that everyone seemed to have at finding Riku willingly interacting with a guest. She accepted their request for ice cream ("Three bowls please!" "Why do we need three?" "One for Roxas, duh!") quietly before disappearing again.

"Hey Riku, have you noticed anything weird about Namine?" he asked.

"Who?"

"Namine, the maid who was just here."

Riku sprawled himself back onto the couch lazily and gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "_I_ don't know," he yawned. "How am I supposed to keep track of all the servants around here?" Which Sora thought was a bit odd.

But when the ice cream arrived, three glass bowls filled artfully with perfectly round scoops of vanilla and decorated in cherry syrup, all concerns were immediately pushed from his mind. Roxas scampered over from his spot on the chair and dug into his bowl with as much gusto as Sora, who ravaged his own like a wild beast with a fresh carcass. Riku watched the two of them demolish their dessert, on the brink of being appalled. He could afford to eat his ice cream slowly, however, thanks to a bit of ice magic keeping his bowl cold.

It was then that Riku realized Sora had tricked him into eating ice cream with him. The strangest part was that Riku wasn't sure that he minded.

* * *

Sora was halfway through making his deliveries the next day when Roxas made a sudden strangled noise from his basket seat.

"Ak! Sora, quick, turn around!" he hissed, his tail puffed up with alarm.

"Huh? Why? I have to go this way for the next stop."

"Well find another way! Quick, before he sees us!"

It was then that Sora noticed Axel up ahead, juggling balls of fire in front of a group of captivated children while Demyx strummed his sitar and called for donations.

"What, you don't want to talk to Axel?" Sora asked.

"_No_ I don't want to talk to him! Of _course_ I don't! Turn around, he'll see us!"

But Axel had already looked up and noticed their approach. His eyes widened when he saw them, and he nearly dropped the fireballs he had been juggling in his distraction. But with a quick save, he caught them all in one hand while the children cheered. Demyx gave him a confused look at the sudden interruption of the show.

"Hey!" Axel called after them, waving an arm. "Sora! Roxas, wait! Hey _wait_!" He started forward, trying to catch up to them.

But Sora had already changed their course and was riding away. "Sorry!" he called back over his shoulder. "He doesn't want to talk to you!" They rounded a corner and disappeared from view.

Axel's shoulders slumped, disappointed. But the crowd of children were clambering for the show, and he knew it would be useless to try to catch up to that bike. Demyx cocked his head to one side, questioningly, but Axel only gave a slight shake of his head. There was no way he could explain.

Several streets over, Roxas finally calmed down.

"That was close," he breathed, relieved.

"So, are you just going to avoid him forever because he knows you're not really a cat?" Sora asked, a trace of disapproval in his tone.

"Not _forever. _I mean, he's a traveling street performer, he's bound to leave the city _eventually_. I'll just avoid him until then. It shouldn't be too hard."

Sora's silence was palpable, and Roxas turned a sharp eye on him.

"_What_?" he snapped.

"I think you're just running away from your problems," Sora said with some hesitation.

"I'm not running away from my problems, I'm just running away from _him_," Roxas shot back, gritting his sharp teeth.

"Yeah, but..."

"But _what_? I don't have to talk to him. And why should I? Since when do I owe him anything?" Roxas growled.

"But _still_, I mean, he's not bad. He's just concerned about you."

"Well I don't give a fuck! He can just mind his own business. And so can you!"

Sora swallowed his objections, not wanting to get into an argument just now. Roxas was already irritated enough, and saying something more would only make him upset and put him into another one of his bad moods. And since Sora was in the middle of his deliveries, now was not the best time to confront that. So he said nothing. The resulting silence was heavy and uncomfortable.

Roxas hunched unhappily in the basket and made himself as small as possible. He stayed quiet while Sora made his deliveries, stewing in his own pride and guilt. He knew Sora objected to what he was doing. But Roxas' side was valid, too, dammit! Wasn't it? Why did he have to talk to Axel, how on earth would that help anything? He hated people telling him what to do, and that's certainly what Axel would try to do. Roxas was doing just fine, anyway! Well— fine enough at any rate. He was better than he had been, at least, and that was certainly saying something. But his pride was wounded. He hadn't won the argument, Sora had just backed down in order to keep him from getting mad. He didn't see Roxas' side at all. Sora was treating him like a child.

But at the same time, he knew perfectly well why Sora did it. Roxas was _acting_ like a child, of course he would be treated that way. Roxas knew that he was hard to deal with, knew that he would get angry and lash out for no reason, knew that any implication that what he was doing was wrong would send him into a sulky rage. And he hated that even more. He hated that he couldn't control himself, couldn't be more rational. Sometimes he felt as if there were two of him, a calm, intelligent Roxas, the real him, and a stupid, irrationally angry Roxas, an imposter, who would burst in and take over while the real Roxas could do nothing to stop it. Why did he have to be like this? He had made Sora upset, and he felt terrible about it. Guilt and regret washed over him, and he wished fervently that he could take back what he had said. But the uncomfortable silence kept him from apologizing. He felt selfish and stupid, and helpless to stop himself from being so.

Why did he have to be such a burden? Why couldn't he be normal? He knew he hadn't always been this way.

The sudden thought popped into his head that his brother would have laughed to see him like this. Roxas had always made fun of him for being so wildly emotional, and yet here he was doing the same thing. What a riot.

They rode through the city in silence, stopping here and there to unload packages, while Roxas felt steadily worse. Now the small almost-argument had become blown and exaggerated in his head, and he was convinced that he had said something terrible, that he could never be forgiven, that Sora was furious with him. How could he have snapped at Sora like that?

Roxas was embroiled in such self-induced agony that when a small, fish-shaped cat treat was placed in front of him, he have a start. He looked up to see Sora, his blue eyes kind and smiling, having just returned from delivering a package.

"Miss Elena gave me a treat to give to you," Sora explained, amused at Roxas' surprise.

"Oh, thank you," Roxas said meekly as he accepted it, trying to apologize with his expression and tone without actually saying the words. Sora seemed to understand, and his smile softened. He scratched Roxas' ear a moment before mounting his bike and setting off once more.

Sora wasn't mad at him. Of course he wasn't, Sora never got mad about things like that. Suddenly Roxas felt quite silly. He was always building up things like that in his head, stressing over minor situations, caught up in his own overwhelming emotions, even if they didn't have a logical explanation. How many times had he convinced himself that he had done something to make Sora furious enough to never want to talk to him again, only to find that Sora had already forgotten all about it? He shook his head at his own terrible imagination and its tendency to consume him.

The bike made a sharp turn, and Roxas scrambled to catch his treat before it flew out of the basket. He heard Sora chuckling at him, and he smiled, wondering how exactly Sora was able to put up with him. He gobbled down the treat, which had a surprisingly realistic salmon flavor.

"Hey, do you want to visit Riku later?" Sora asked.

Roxas looked over at him. "You certainly are visiting Riku a lot, aren't you?" he said, almost slyly.

Sora shrugged. "I like him. I think he's funny. Plus, he can have people bring us ice cream!"

"That is a _very_ important quality to have," Roxas agreed wholeheartedly. "We definitely have to go."

* * *

As soon as Sora dropped off the list of receipt signatures with Cloud, he and Roxas set off once again to the mansion on the hill. They went through the same hidden hole in the fence and snuck past a few butlers up to Riku's library. They found him hunched over the low table, scribbling away in a notebook with several large books open in front of him. A tray bearing an elegant teapot, matching cups, and a small plate of puffy, golden-brown biscuits sat within his reach. The phonograph was on again, playing the same melancholy piano music it had been playing before.

"_Che_, figures you would come here again," Riku said, barely looking up as they stepped inside. "I've got a lot of homework to do, though, so I can't really hang out today." He put down his pen and picked up the teacup, taking a small sip as he examined a page of one of the books.

"Boo! Homework is boring!" Sora declared as he plopped down in the seat that was fast becoming his usual spot. Roxas jumped into his lap and curled up.

"_Tell _me about it!" Riku groaned. "I mean, who cares about trigonometry anyway? How the hell is _that_ going to be useful later in life?"

"I dunno, I never studied that."

Riku glanced up from his cup. "No, I don't suppose you would have. You're lucky you don't have to do homework."

Sora shrugged. "Hey, what kind of tea is that?" he asked suddenly.

Riku blinked, surprised, and looked down into his cup as if just noticing it was there. "This? It's, uh, Earl Grey. Why do you ask? You can have some if you want."

"And you're eating biscuits too?"

Riku looked at the plate of pastries, baffled. "I suppose I am," he admitted.

"Does the tea go well with the biscuits? Do lots of nobles drink that kind of tea?"

"What kind of questions are these?"

Sora shrugged again. "Just curious," was all he offered.

Riku frowned suspiciously at him. "I guess Earl Gray is a pretty popular kind of tea. It tastes alright with the biscuits."

"Oho, really? That's good to know then! I'll have to remember to tell Tidus the next time I see him!"

"Whatever," said Riku, returning to his notebook. He had no time to waste being confused by Sora's weirdness.  
"Oh hey, by the way!" Sora interrupted again.

"_What_?" Riku sighed, annoyed.

"Did you know that you have this big hole in your fence? Hidden in the bushes. Roxas and I were wondering about it. The bars are broken all weird, not like they were bent or cut or anything. It's strange. Do you think it has something to do with Xehanort?"

"Huh? Oh, that hole. No, there's no need to worry about that. I made that hole."

"You _did_? How? Why?"

It was Riku's turn to shrug as he set down his teacup and flipped through the pages of one of his books. "I just didn't feel like having to talk to the gate man every time I wanted to go in and out of the mansion. It's too much trouble, and he's too annoying. Sometimes he doesn't let me out, and if I came back late, he would always scold me like I was a kid or something. I made it so I could come and go as I pleased without having to get anyone's approval. It wasn't hard. I just froze the bars until they were brittle enough to break." He looked up and gave Sora a particularly self-pleased smile. "I kicked them, and they just shattered everywhere. It was pretty cool."

Sora was thoroughly impressed. He started telling Riku about his own confrontations with the gate man and his oppressive ways, and Riku nodded his head with the understanding of someone who had experienced the same struggle.

"So did you tell teacher guy about the monsters yet?" Sora asked.

"Hm? Oh, Mr. Erqaus." Riku frowned at the table in front of him. "Yeah, I told him earlier today."

"_And_? Did he come up with cool spells?"

Riku tugged on a lock of hair and leaned back in his seat. "Well, not exactly," he admitted. "He didn't believe me. He said he never heard of shadow magic like that. And he told me to try to get along better with Xehanort, that I was being too anti-social, and said I was imagining things."

"What? Boo, that's lame."

"I know," he grumbled. "I was sure he would help. But he's so by-the-book, so anything new or strange is either impossible or scandalous to him. Since he's never heard of it before, he doesn't believe it exists. It's really annoying sometimes. I mean, he's a great teacher, don't get me wrong. But sometimes I wish he was just a little more open-minded, you know?"

"That's terrible. So I guess we're on our own again, huh?"

"Seems that way," Riku sighed. "I'll just have to try to research it then, see if I can find some spells to counteract the monsters on my own."

"You wont find much, I'm afraid," said a soft voice suddenly from the doorway. "At least, not in any libraries in Nomura."

The two boys and the cat whipped around in their seats to find Namine quietly closing the door behind her.

"Excuse me?" snapped Riku. "I don't remember calling anyone up here. We don't need anything from you."

"On the contrary Riku, there are many things you need from me," she said simply, looking him dead in the eye. "Because I know how you can stop Xehanort."

That shut Riku up instantly, and his eyes widened. Sora and Roxas tensed, confused and wary.

"What did you say?" Riku frowned.

"Xehanort and his shadow monsters, the ones he's using to steal your soul. I know how to stop them." When the boys continued to gape at her, she smiled to herself and stepped away from the door to stand by the table. "I heard everything yesterday. There's no need to look so confused about it."

"You were eavesdropping on us? How dare you!" cried Riku, outraged that a maid had the audacity to do such a thing.

Namine gave a light shrug, unconcerned. "Well it's not like it was hard. Security in the Jenova manor is a lot more relaxed than I would have expected. But no matter. We want the same thing, after all. To see Xehanort defeated." She took a seat in a chair next to her, with her ankles crossed and hands clasped in her lap neatly, and gave them a cool look.

"What do you _mean_ security was more relaxed than you expected?" Riku snarled, narrowed eyes flashing angrily. "Why would…" He stopped suddenly, and his face smoothed into something blank and expressionless. "You're not a maid, are you?" he asked in a low, dangerous voice.

Namine lowered her eyes and smiled demurely. "Whoops, looks like you found me out."

Sora gasped. "So you _were_ mysterious after all! Kairi was right!"

Riku braced his hands on his knees and leaned forward with a cold glare, while the room seemed to drop several degrees in temperature. "Just who are you, exactly?" he growled.

"My my, how very frightening you are," Namine said dryly, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. "But if you kill me, then you wont learn how to stop Xehanort, will you?"

"Shut up! Tell me who you are and what you're doing here! Who sent you?"

"Such contradictory demands," she said with a small grin. "Do you want me to tell you or do you want me to shut up?"

"You know what I mean!" Riku shouted, pale cheeks giving way to a light blush.

Namine chuckled at him, a sound like rustling wind chimes.

Riku glared at her in silence. Sora shifted in his seat, looking between them cautiously, and Roxas was hunched with his ears flattened defensively in his lap. But the tense moment was shattered when the door slammed open with a bang. Kairi stood in the opening, eyes wild and pointing an accusing finger at Namine.

"She's a spy!" Kairi exclaimed.

"Eh? She's a spy?" Sora gasped.

"Is every maid going to burst in here uninvited today?" Riku growled.

Kairi looked at Riku's glowering face and made a startled 'ak!' noise. She immediately fell into a deep bow, bent at the waist in a perfect ninety degree angle. "I'm so sorry, Sir, please forgive me. But I have reason to believe that this girl is a spy from Alexandria!" She rose from her bow to give Namine a proud, contemptuous look.

"Ah, so it seems someone was onto me after all," was all Namine had to say on the matter.

"So you don't deny it!" cried Kairi.

"I do not."

"Woah! Kairi, you were right! She _was_ suspicious!" Sora said, wondrously impressed.

"I know, right? No one believed me, but I was _totally right_!" Kairi glowed with pride, hands on her hips in a conqueror's pose.

"You should be a detective!"

"No way, my deductive skills shall be used for science!"

"Alexandria, huh?" Riku said, examining Namie darkly. "Those devious bastards. I should tell my uncle right now, and have you locked up for the rest of your worthless life."

Namine was not nearly as intimidated by this as she could have been. "And where would that get you, hm?" she said sharply. "You get your reason to attack my people and start a war. Meanwhile, Xehanort slowly steals your soul and destroys every person in both of our cities. All outing me will get you is death and destruction."

Riku seemed to relent just slightly, but he was still as tense as ever. Kairi pulled up a chair next to Sora and took a seat, eyes bright with excitement.

"But what are you here for, then, if not to learn state secrets and report them back to Alexandria? Aren't you the one trying to start a war? _You're_ the one spying on _us_, you know! How do you explain _that_, Namine—_if that is your real name_!" said Kairi.

Namine sniffed dismissively. "Of _course_ that's what an arrogant Nomuran would believe. It would never occur to you that not everyone was out for your blood. But I'll have you know that I was sent here to _prevent_ a war, not start one."

"Prevent one, huh?" said Sora, nodding thoughtfully. "Oh I see. Well that's fine, then."

"It is _not_ fine! Don't go deciding things like that!" shouted Kairi, knocking Sora upside the head. "And don't say 'oh I see' like you understand!"

"Gah! Why'd you hit me? So much violence!" he cried, clutching the back of his head.

"What do you mean, you're here to prevent war?" asked Riku.

Namine pursed her lips primly. "Wouldn't you rather hear what I have to say about Xehanort? I'd say that's the most important thing here."

"I want to hear both. But I can't trust you if I don't know why you are here. And if I can't trust you, then I can't believe whatever it is you have to say about him, so there wouldn't be a point."

She gave him a long look, but Riku held his ground. "Fair enough," she said at last. She gave a soft sigh and looked down into her lap, where her hand had started fiddling with the hem of her apron. "There have been rumors running throughout Alexandria about how Nomura is developing and stocking up more and more weapons. How Nomura is slowly trying to take control of the neutral villages surrounding Alexandria. Making deals with the mining companies working near our borders. Bullying Alexandrian merchants and setting up tariffs against us. Some say that an attack is bound to happen soon, and others say that these things are already an attack enough. And most believe that violence is only inevitable." She bit her lip and looked up at them fiercely.

"But my people do not want war," she continued, hands balled into fists, gripping her skirt tightly. "We have nothing to gain by such a thing. And Lady Garnet is trying her best to preserve peace and calm her citizens, but it is not easy. They are afraid. And a frightened group of people is a dangerous thing, especially in large numbers.

"And so My Lady sent me here, to discover which rumors were true and to find out the reasons behind Nomura's actions. To prepare and defend ourselves, and to perhaps find better ways to negotiate with you. If I could find out what is was that your government was after, then perhaps we could find a way to convince you to stop your aggression toward us."

"Garnet? I thought Brahn was the noble who ruled over Alexandria," said Kairi.

"She is. But her daughter, Lady Garnet, is just as involved in the well-being of our city as her mother. She is a kind and fair young woman, and since she has come of age, My Lady has proven herself quite worthy of being our ruler," Namine said, swelling with pride and admiration.

"So you hate Brahn, huh?" said Sora.

"Wh-what? No no, I said no such a thing!" Namine stammered, face slightly flushed. "I would never _never_ say something like that! For one such as myself to express that kind of opinion, that would be—I would _never_! Lady Brahn _may_ be a bit rash and perhaps more uncouth than she could be—but she is still our noble ruler and—"

"Yeah yeah, cut the crap," Riku interrupted. "So you hate that old hag just like the rest of us. Who cares?" Namine broke into a flurry of protests, but Riku ignored them. "The _important_ thing here is why you say Nomura is out to destroy _you_, when Alexandria is clearly the one out to get _us_. _You're_ the ones taking over mines and trade routes and villages. And hasn't Alexandria started drafting all eligible mages into your army?"

"If we have, it's only in defense from you!"

"We're the ones defending ourselves from _you_!" he shot back.

"And that seems to be the trouble, doesn't it?" Namine said, her anger melting into concern. "That's what I've learned since I've got here. That the same rumors everyone is frightened of back home are shaking up the people here, too, only reversed."

"So if we are both only defending ourselves from each other, how did any of this start?" asked Kairi.

"I believe that's where Xehanort comes in," she answered. You may not know of him in this city, but that does not mean that he is so unknown in other parts of the world. I believe that he had used his power and influence to plant these rumors in both cities, trying to force us into war for his own twisted ends. He is a monster who thrives off the chaos he creates and the pain he inflicts. Some say that he is over a hundred years old, and that every few decades he reinvents himself with the power he steals from others. The number of cities he has destroyed is unknowable. But he has not been in this part of the world very long. So he is able to operate easily, since no one knows who he really is."

Kairi leaned over in her chair to whisper in Sora's ear. "Xehanort, Sephiroth's advisor? He's evil after all?" she asked him quietly, unwilling to sound completely ignorant in this tense situation.

"Yeah, super evil," he muttered. "I'll tell you about it later."

Kairi nodded and returned her attention to Namine.

"So how do you know about him, then, if he's so anonymous?" Riku asked.

"I may have been born in Alexandria, but I have traveled widely in order to further my education. Not that there's anything _wrong_ with a purely Alexandrian education, of course. But travel is an important part of learning different perspectives. You really do develop as a person that way. I highly recommend it!"

"This isn't the time to advertise! Get on with your explanation!" Riku snapped.

"Oh! Right! Forgive me. Anyway, for a while I was living in a town called Mysidia, where I came across several of Xehanort's victims in the hospital where I worked for a bit. They had just barely managed to escape from the nearby city of Damcyan, which had been torn apart by a vicious civil war only a few months before I arrived, and were trying to recover. We learned from one of them about how Xehanort had infiltrated, masquerading as a political advisor, and how he had found a way to fill the hearts of the people with so much darkness that they turned on each other. Brother against brother, friend against friend. The city was completely destroyed."

A troubled look clouded Namine's light features. "They survivors did not recover, however. Xehanort has gone unknown for so long because his victims never survive, not for long, anyway, and so there isn't usually anyone to expose him. Though the doctors tried their best, all the survivors of the Damcyan civil war eventually succumbed to madness or committed suicide. Their hearts had been so tainted by darkness that they could not endure it." She clutched her skirt once more, knuckles white. "It was a painful thing. And I wish never to witness anything like it ever again." Her voice was soft enough to be a whisper, and her audience leaned forward to better hear her. She swallowed thickly and composed herself.

"A mage scholar by the name of Yen Sid—perhaps you've heard of him? He's very well-known—he was in the town at the time, and revealed that he knew how to stop such terrible magic. By then, of course, it was too late. The damage had been done."

"So how do we stop him?" Riku urged impatiently.

"Well, I may be a bit fuzzy on the details, and I certainly don't know the magic theory behind it, but the only way to stop Xehanort is to use a sword made with light and love, forged by a powerful mage."

"A what?" asked Riku, Sora, and Kairi with equal confusion.

"A sword made of light and love," she repeated.

"How can a sword be made out of something intangible like that? Swords need steel and iron to be strong," said Kairi.

Namine shrugged. "I don't know, but that's what Yen Sid said. A mage bladesmith uses light and love to forge a sword, and only that can defeat shadow magic like Xehanort's. It made more sense when he said it, I guess. I'm not sure I can explain it better than that."

"That sounds really dumb," said Riku.

"Well fine, if you don't want my help and knowledge, you don't have to take it!" Namine sniffed, affronted.

"Why did you sneak up in here, acting like you've got all kinds of valuable information about how to defeat Xehanort, when really you don't know any better than we do? You're wasting my time with this useless stuff." Riku gave her an annoyed look, leaning back in his seat and propping his feet up on the low table in front of him.

"It is not useless! These things exist, I'm telling you!"

"Then where do we get one?"

"Well…I'm not really sure…" she admitted, biting her lip.

"See? Useless!"

Namine fumed at him, offended, but Riku had picked up one of his text books and was wasn't paying her any attention.

"Now if you all don't mind, I have quite a bit of homework to do," he said, flipping through the pages. "So if you could leave, that would be—"

"So Kairi, how did you find out Namine was a spy from Alexandria?" Sora broke in. He didn't seem to notice Riku's outraged look at being interrupted. Roxas did, however, and smirked mockingly at him, which had Riku blinking in confusion. Did a cat just _smirk_ at him?

"Yes, I am quite interested at well. I thought I had all my bases covered. How did you find out?" asked Namine.

"Well if you _must_ know," Kairi began with pride, "there were quite a few things. I've had suspicions for a while, from the fact that you acted like a newly hired maid when you seemed to have been working here for years. And I kept seeing you snooping around Master Sephiroth's meetings."

"And your weird feelings!" added Sora.

"Yes, those too. I always felt that there was something odd about you. And earlier today, I snuck into your room, where I found a book about Nomura customs, like you were trying to learn how to act like us. And there were a bunch of notes that you wrote about the nobles and what they were doing, proving you to be a spy. So I figured, what other city would want to send a spy? And Alexandria was the obvious choice."

"You snuck into my room?" Namine asked, alarmed.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that, I realize what an invasion of privacy that is—wait, I'm not sorry! You're a spy! Why should I care?"

Namine gave a nod. "Well I suppose you're right about that."

"You went spying without me? No fair!" Sora whined.

"It couldn't be helped," Kairi answered. "You weren't around, and I needed to get it done." She turned to Namine with an eager expression "So tell me, how did you do it? How did you make us think you were a maid who worked here for years?"

"Well I suppose I might as well tell you. I mean, you found out the most important part anyway." She sat up straighter in her seat. "Let me introduce myself. I am Namine, special agent operative for the Alexandiran military." She gave a quick, sharp salute. "I'm a mage, with a specialty in memory manipulation. I merely supplanted myself in the memories of the workers here, a subtle, yet widespread spell, to help me blend in while I accomplished my mission."

"Hah! I knew it!" Kairi cried in jubilation. "I knew something was weird about the memories! Of _course_, a mage might manipulate memories, that makes so much sense!"

"Wait a minute," broke in Riku, having apparently abandoned his efforts to finish his homework. "You messed with _my_ memories? This is unforgivable! I will not stand it!"

"Oh hush," scolded Namine. "I didn't do anything to _you_. Most nobles barely notice the people working for them, so I didn't bother changing any of theirs. Your precious mind is safe."

Riku relaxed at this, but he still scowled at her.

"So where does the fake memory stop and reality begin? How long have you been here, really?" Kairi asked.

"Four weeks and two days exactly," she answered. She looked at Sora. "By the way, who are you? You aren't a servant and you aren't a noble. What are you doing here? You've had me puzzled for days."

"Huh? Oh, I'm Sora! Nice to meet you! And this is Roxas!"

"Ah, yes, I met him yesterday. So he's your cat, then?"

"Something like that."

"You know, I should still turn you in to my uncle. This spying thing is sketchy, I don't care what your reasons are." Riku was scowling even harder at Namine, if it were possible.

"Oh, come on, Riku. Don't do that!" cried Sora. "She's not so bad! And she'll help us defeat Xehanort!"

"That's right!" Namine agreed. She stood from her seat to give a low bow. "I would be very grateful to you if you did not turn me in. And I promise that I will do everything I can to stop this evil man from bringing chaos and death to our cities!"

Her sincere appeal was met with surprise and slight hesitation, but after a moment (and some puppy-dog eyes on Sora's part), Riku gave in. "Fine," he sighed with irritation. "I wont tell anyone. But you have to come up with something better to defeat him with than a _love sword_."

Namine straightened from her bow with a smile which seemed to relieve some of the tiredness from her eyes. "I will do my best, you can count on me!" She clenched a fist in determination. "I will have to do extensive research on the topic!"

The mention of research seemed to make Riku brighten up considerably. "Research, huh? That's my kind of thinking. I think this alliance might be alright after all."

"Yahoo! How exciting!" exclaimed Sora. "A proper group is crucial for a good adventure, everyone knows that!"

Roxas shook his head at him and jumped down from his lap. Sora was now wiggling too much to be a good napping spot. He trotted over to lay on the bench seat under the large window, which had been warmed up by the late day sun.

"So Sora, are you going to tell me what's going on, or what?" Kairi asked him while Riku and Namine discussed the best research libraries. "Whatever it is, it sounds wild, and I am _not_ getting left out of something like that."

* * *

**A/N: So it seems I have updated at last! Sorry for the wait (if anyone noticed) but my computer suffered a slow and painful death. So much sorrow. Also, Riku can be difficult to write, sometimes, that brat. Yes, I am blaming him for my trouble writing him. It's his fault. Not mine.**

**The places Namine mentions are from Final Fantasy IV. I thought it was fun to put them in, just like my IX references.**

**I'm sure there are lots of typos, but I'm just as sure that one of you will point them out to me, as always (looking at you, Besieged Infection) so I might as well post it. I'm tired of looking at it, already.**

**Y U no review?**


	8. The Firefly Queen

"I think the best strategy would be to split up, and have each of us take a different section," said Riku, standing before them, arms clasped behind his back like a general issuing orders to his troops. "Blonde Maid, you take the magic theory section, down at the far end there. Not-Blonde Maid, you take the history section up there—"

"My name is _Kairi_. That is what you will call me. Kai-ri."

"Yeah, whatever. See if you can find something in the history books about shadow magic or love swords or anything. Sora, you take the shelf right there, it has books about curses. Look for anything about shadow curses, if there is anything— Don't make that face, this'll be good for you, a real learning experience. And make sure your cat doesn't knock anything over. I'll take the section over here on weaponry. Maybe there will be something about magic-infused swords or something that could be useful." With their orders received, the troops split up and set off for their destinations, some more enthusiastic than others.

They were in the mansion's main library, an enormous, but solemn room, brimming with noble history and stiff pride with every smooth curve of mahogany and gleaming gold carving in its walls and shelves. The high, arched ceiling flaunted detailed murals depicting fat, winged children lounging on clouds, who gazed over the room in languid amusement. Tight spiral staircases wound their way up to the second level, a railed walkway that bisected the tall shelves. The air in the library had a heavy, imposing stillness to it, as if the room were holding its breath, which made each of the would-be researchers currently wandering through its stacks feel as if they were intruding. They made their way as quietly as they could, but the glossy marble flooring amplified their footsteps traitorously, and the room seemed to glare at them for the disruption. Even Riku, who lived in the mansion and had a reasonable claim to the library, always felt he was breaking some sort of unspoken rule when he was inside, as if he were using the priceless display china to eat breakfast. Kairi was perhaps the most enthusiastic of their group to be there, as the Jenova library was quite famous in the region for both its architecture and its resources, and she was eager to finally have a chance to read the books she had only ever been allowed to dust.

They had been looking through the books for less than fifteen minutes before Sora's limited attention span wore out and he decided he was bored. He closed the book in his hands and set it back in its home on the shelf with a weary groan.

"Roxas, I don't think this is going to work," he complained to the cat. Roxas had meanwhile jumped up onto a shelf to sniff the book bindings and chuckle at the particularly silly names of the authors he found.

"Well it might work better if you managed to make it past the Table of Contents in any book you opened," was Roxas' dry response. He nibbled the corner of a particularly fat book and grinned. "Hey, look, the author of this one is named _Borkennoogen_. What the hell kind of ridiculous name is that? _Borkennoogen_!"

Sora agreed that it was a hilarious name, but it did nothing to liven up the task at hand. "This is _boring_," he insisted.

"Well, what am _I_ supposed to do about it? Oh my God, _this_ guy's last name is Bullafhart!"

"I think we should leave."

"Did you hear me? I said _Bullafhart_. That was a person's _name_. He had to _live_ with that name," Roxas laughed.

"Okay, that's pretty good. But I still want to leave."

"And what about the search for a way to save the city? That _is_ what we're supposed to be doing, after all."

"We'll figure something out. But I really don't think we'll find it in some book."

"I wonder what Bullafhart would do in this situation," Roxas mused. "I'm sure he was a very logical man, and all his friends went to him for financial advice. And he probably called people 'old sport' and things like that."

"I believe both Mr. Bullafhart _and_ Mr. Borkennoogen would want us to go," said Sora. "I bet Borkennoogen had a lot of regrets in life, and he would want to make sure that we never spent time doing things that we thought were boring."

"I suppose so," added Roxas with a snort. "Borkennoogen was a lonely man who never married. And he would often grow misty-eyed while gazing out the window, thinking of his past."

"So, are you coming with me?"

"Of course I am," said the cat. "Borkennoogen would have wanted it. And maybe Bullafhart would have, too, in his own way." Sora laughed.

The rest of the group was not quite as amenable to Sora's decision to leave. But though they frowned and argued and tried to get him to stay, it was no use. When Sora had made his mind up about something, there was very little anyone could do to stop him.

"Sora, don't be such an idiot!" scoffed Riku, his arms folded in stern disapproval. "I don't _care_ if you think it's boring, this is how to find information. This library is very extensive, it's bound to have something useful. And if it doesn't, we can use the University library. It might take some time, sure, but we'll definitely find what we need this way."

"Well, you guys can keep doing that, but I'm gonna go," Sora said, as resolute as a train leaving a station.

"You can't just ditch us like this, it's not fair," challenged Kairi. "We all have to do our best to help, don't we?" Sora was, technically, the only link she had to this strange group, and she wasn't sure she liked being left with the Ice Prince and the spy from Alexandria, even if it did give her a chance to explore the library.

"But there's no way I can do my best here. My skills are better suited for other, more proactive tasks," he argued simply.

"So what exactly are you going to do instead?"

Sora shrugged. "I dunno yet. But I'm pretty lucky, so I'm sure something will turn up. See ya!" And with that, he turned with a wave and made his way out the door, Roxas at his heels.

"Did he just use the word 'proactive'?" asked Riku in momentary surprise.

"He did indeed," Namine answered.

Riku let out an irritated sigh. "Well whatever, it's not like he would be any use in a library, anyway, he'd probably just mess up all the books. If he wants to go, then let him," he mumbled more than a little bitterly before stomping back to his section. It was quite possible that Riku was the _tiniest_ bit upset at the ease with which Sora could disregard the value of books and research, something he himself held quite dear. Not that he would ever admit such a thing, of course. Because getting upset over a thing like that would be silly. And Riku was most definitely _not_ silly. And if he happened to be scowling more than he had been before, it was certainly not because of _that_.

The girls exchanged a look before returning to their shelves as well.

* * *

Sora flew through the streets, the smoothly paved roads and general downward slant of the northern district combining to give his trusty red bike the speed of pebble caught in a wild river current. He hunched over the handlebars with his butt off the seat, making himself as aerodynamic as a solid boy could be. Roxas sat up in his seat with his front paws braced on the edge of the basket, while the wind flapped his ears and pulled his lips back in an hysteric grin. People honked, shrieked and cursed at him, but the only damage he really caused were a few rustled skirts or fallen hats blown away from their owners, caught in the small tornado he left in his wake.

By the time the streets flattened out and the bike eased into a slower pace, Sora was laughing with exhilaration. The hills of the southern district might be more daring and wild, but few things could beat sailing down a single giant slope. Even Roxas was beginning to appreciate it a little. _Just_ a little, though. And besides, the streets were a bit emptier than usual, making for less obstacles to weave through, which definitely helped ease Roxas' blood pressure and let him enjoy the ride without the fear of imminent death ruining the fun.

Although, it was a bit _odd_ that the streets were so much less crowded than normal, Roxas thought. Usually about this time of day there would be all kinds of traffic of late afternoon crowds running errands or visiting friends. Instead, most of the people who seemed to be out and about were a few scattered soldiers, who walked briskly and quietly in pairs here and there. Roxas was about to ask Sora what he thought about this anomaly, when suddenly his large ears twitched. "Hey, do you hear that?" he asked instead.

Sora opened his mouth to reply that no, he did not, but paused when he noticed the staccato footsteps of someone running toward them.

"Roxas! Sora! Hey, wait up!" someone called.

"Gah not him again!" hissed Roxas.

Sora turned to see Axel jogging toward them, one long arm outstretched in a wave. His vivid red hair was a stark contrast to the gray of the surrounding buildings, and combined with the bright yellows and oranges of his scarf and jacket, he looked like the personification of a flame.

"Are we still avoiding him?" Sora asked the cat in the basket.

"Yes please," was his prompt answer.

"Okay," Sora shrugged. He cupped his hand to the side of his mouth and shouted "Sorry, we're still avoiding you!" before speeding off.

"Dammit get back here! I hate chasing after people!" Axel hollered behind them. "That's _twice_ today!"

"Maybe next time!" Sora answered with a cheerful wave. They could hear Axel shouting irritably after them, cursing them with a number of strange and creative insults which seemed to stem from a deep loathing of having people run away from him.

"Thanks," Roxas mumbled sheepishly.

"Sure. You're probably gonna have to talk to him eventually, though. If someone tries that hard to talk to you, it's gonna happen at some point, simple as that. I mean, he was literally _chasing_ us just now. Besides, what if he has something totally unexpected to say? What if he's actually just trying to give us some free cake or something?"

Roxas made a noncommittal grunt in response, reminded of the guilt that had resulted from this argument earlier that day. "So what should we do about stopping Xehanort, now that we're out of the library?" he asked, in his best attempt at a smooth change of subject.

"I dunno. Wanna go get ice cream?"

"The answer that that question will _always_ be yes."

And so they made their way to Scrooge's Ice Cream Parlor, their favorite dessert shop in the western district, which wasn't too far away.

Nestled snugly between its neighbors, Scrooge's Ice Cream Parlor declared itself with a large, flashy sign above the door and brightly colored designs in the front windows. Once inside, customers were met with bold primary colors and the sweet aroma of cold sugar, while a player piano jangled away with familiar melodies in one corner. While the streets may have been oddly quiet, the shop was bustling with cheerful customers talking and laughing together as it always was.

Sora and Roxas were well known at this particular establishment, and when they stepped inside, announced by the wild jingle of the bell attached to the door, the cashier behind the counter gave them a bright holler.

"Why if it isn't our best customers, Mr. Everything-On-The-Menu and Sea Salt, The Cat Wonder!"

"Yo! How's it goin' Huey?" Sora greeted as he made his way to the counter with Roxas hitching a ride on his shoulder.

"Oh, same old, same old. So what can I get ya?" Huey asked.

Sora scanned the menu set up on the wall behind the counter thoughtfully. "Mmmm, I think today shall be a day for triple chocolate chunk with sprinkles and whipped cream. And a bowl of sea salt ice cream for the fuzzy one. Put a cherry on his, too. He needs to eat more fruit."

"Coming right up!" he collected Sora's money and hopped off to prepare their desserts.

"Hey, what was that crap about me needing fruit?" Roxas growled quietly in Sora's ear. His claws were prickling against Sora's shoulder threateningly.

"Healthy growing boys need to eat fruits and vegetables, even I know that. All _you_ eat is meat and dairy. That might be fine for a real cat, but it can't be good for _you_," Sora replied.

"Tch, like a cherry on ice cream is going to make a difference," Roxas scoffed.

"Well, a cherry is a cherry. You might as well eat it."

Someone sat down on the stool next to them, preventing Roxas from making any scathing comeback. Sora looked over to find he recognized this particular someone.

"Hiya Aerith!" he chirped.

The woman turned at the greeting, and her pretty face lit up with a delighted smile.

"Sora, how nice to see you," she said. "Seems like I'm not the only one who decided that this was a good time for a treat. How are you?"

"Oh, you know. Making friends, having adventures. Same as usual," he answered.

"Of course," she chuckled, a lovely sound that had been known to sooth crying babies.

Huey returned with their ice cream, and they dug into their bowls while Aerith placed an order for strawberry frozen yogurt. Roxas was tempted to knock his cherry to the floor out of spite, but he changed his mind and gobbled it up quickly before Sora could tease him about it. Really, though, the cherry was probably more sugary than the ice cream.

"Fo whaf ew wif oo?" Sora asked around a mouthful of chocolate chunk.

"What's new with me? Well, not too much, I suppose," Aerith answered, expertly interpreting mouth-full-of-food language. "Business has been rather slow today, so I decided to take a break. And Zack isn't feeling very well. He's been asleep most of the day."

"Oh no! Zack's sick? That's not good!" said Sora with a frown.

"It's not too bad, I think it's just a bit of a cold. I made him some soup earlier, and he was able to eat most of it. I'm sure he'll be okay if he just sleeps it off for a bit." Her frozen yogurt arrived in front of her, and she graced Huey with a warm smile that had his pale, freckled cheeks blushing brightly as he shuffled away. She ate a few delicate spoonfuls with satisfaction. "The only trouble is," she continued after dabbing her mouth with a napkin politely, "I have all these large planters and flower pots that I need to move for an order I got earlier today, and there's simply no way I can do it on my own. Normally Zack would help, but since he's out of commission for the time being, I suppose I'll just have to set the delivery back a day or two." Her brows pulled together unhappily for a moment as she ate more of her dessert. "I really do hate missing deadlines, but I suppose there's nothing I can do. I'm sure my clients will understand."

"Hey, what if I helped you instead?" Sora asked. "I bet I could move those flower pots no problem!"

Aerith brightened up considerably. "Oh _would_ you? That's very kind of you to offer. I hate to be a burden on you, though. Are you sure you want to do it? Some of the pots are really very large."

"Sure! Leave it to me, there's no flower pot that can withstand my might!" he declared with a showy display of his right bicep muscle.

She chuckled again and gave another radiant smile. "Thank you _so_ much, I really would appreciate your help."

So once all their desserts had been finished, Sora grabbed his bike and followed Aerith a few short blocks to the flower shop. When they arrived, he made a quick detour to park his bike in the delivery shop's garage across the street.

"She totally conned you into this," said Roxas as Sora settled his bike in its spot. Cloud's motorcycle was absent, he noticed, meaning that Cloud wasn't around the shop. That was hardly unusual, though, because Sora remembered Cloud mentioning earlier that morning that he needed to take his motorcycle to Cid's for some maintenance.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it's very convenient that we _happened_ to bump into Aerith right when she needed help moving giant planters. Since when does she go by herself to eat dessert, anyway? And she just _happened_ to bring up the fact that she needed help. I bet she was looking for you and figured you'd be at Scrooge's. She conned you good."

Sora shrugged, causing Roxas to nearly lose his balance on his shoulder. "Well that's okay. I don't mind helping her either way. And who knows, maybe she's just shy about asking that kind of thing directly." He locked the garage back up and started back over to the flower shop.

"Psh, yeah _right_. Aerith totally gets a kick out of doing things like this. I mean, have you _seen_ the kinds of things she manages to make Zack do? Like that time he was running all over town trying to find supplies to make that wagon display they have? That woman is some kind of mastermind, I swear."

"Hey, don't say rude things about Aerith!" Sora scolded.

"How was that rude? I didn't say she was an _evil_ mastermind. In fact, I admire her cunning and manipulative ways. It's very inspiring!"

Sora jostled his shoulder a bit, and Roxas slipped off his perch, landing on his feet only through a last-second twist.

"What the heck was that for!" Roxas yowled indignantly.

Sora pulled down the skin under one eye with a finger and stuck out his tongue with a taunting 'buuuh' before running off with a cackle.

"Whatever!" Roxas called after him. He followed Sora grumpily back to the shop.

Aerith's flower shop was a bright spot of greenery among the comparatively tame buildings on the street around it. An array of flowers and ferns swayed and shimmied in the late afternoon breeze, lining the steps to the doorway and partially obscuring the front window in their enthusiasm. Bushes of vines snuck their way out of the windows of the second story to rest over the pink-and-white candy striped awning, which bore the name _Elmyra's_, after Aerith's late mother. The lush outdoor display was only a prelude, however, to the jungle of the interior. Pots of bright blossoms and foliage covered the floor, tables, and shelves, and when there wasn't room, they hung from the ceiling. The scent of flowers and fresh-cut grass greeted customers like a handshake, pleasant and friendly, without being too overpowering.

The focus of the room was a large wagon, painted yellow and trimmed with pink ribbon, which housed an explosion of speckled wildflowers. Flower sprites were found every now and then hiding amongst their petals, and Zack would have to shoo the pests away, as they tended to gnaw on the wood, chipping the paint, and sometimes got tangled in the ribbon. They also seemed to enjoy throwing dirt from the flowerbeds on the floor, as if attempting to reclaim the shop for nature. Aerith would feel bad about forcing the sprites out, as she considered it a great compliment to her store, but Zack was adamant about maintaining the display he had worked so hard on building, and neither of them enjoyed continually sweeping up the messes they made. Today, the floor was spotless, a testament to their quite recent eviction of a handful of naughty flower sprites

It seemed that Sora was not the only victim to Aerith's charms, manipulative or not, because once inside the shop, he found Yuffie there as well. She was sitting on the counter by the register in one of the few spots free of vegetation, fiddling with the ribbon tied under the sailor's collar of her blouse and kicking her feet so that the heels of her lace-up boots bounced off base of the counter. When she saw Sora, her face broke into a wide smile.

"Hooray, my flower-pot-moving buddy is here!" she cried jubilantly.

"We get to be flower-pot-moving-buddies? How exciting!" Sora cheered.

Aerith appeared in the doorway leading to the back room, sporting a pair of tough leather gloves. Her hair was now tied back with a bandana, and a dirt-smudged apron covered her dress.

"I hope you're not scuffing my counter like that," she said with a stern look at Yuffie and her kicking. Yuffie immediately hopped off the counter as if it had bit her.

"Nope, not at all," she said with a sheepish grin.

"Good. Now, I want to thank the both of you again for helping me. You're both real life-savers," she said with an instant sunny smile. "So put these gloves on and follow me to the back so I can put you young'uns to work!" She tossed them each their own pair of gloves, and led her enthusiastic volunteers to the back storage room. The walls of the storage room were lined with stacks of pots and planters of varying sizes and piles of canvas sacks full of soil and mulch. Aerith made her way to a corner where a cluster of young sapling trees sat, their roots bundled in cloth like bulbous socks. Their spindly, leafless trunks were tied with cord to thin wooden poles to keep them upright, and at their tallest, the couldn't have reached much higher than Aerith's chin.

"Alright, so here's the project. We have fifteen plum tree saplings here, and they need to be put in those pots there," she gestured to a stack of large planters, "and filled with this soil here," she gestured to a heap of canvas sacks. She explained how to place the trees into the pots without damaging anything, the exact amount of soil needed for every tree, and exactly how to pack the dirt around the roots. She walked the two of them through an example, and once she deemed them worthy enough, the three of them set to work. The pots were heavy, and so were the bags of dirt, and everything seemed to want to go anywhere except where it needed to go. But they found a rhythm that worked, with Sora handling the pot-moving, Yuffie the tree-placing, and Aerith the soil-pouring. Roxas watched them labor from a lofty perch on a stack of mulch bags, snickering quietly when Sora or Yuffie managed to spill dirt all over themselves, which happened frequently.

"Oh, hey, I have a question," Sora began as he settled another planter in place. "Have either of you ever heard of a sword made of light?"

"Hah?" Yuffie grunted as she lifted a tree and lowered it into the pot. Aerith helped her stabilize it and began packing in the soil. "A whatnow?"

"A sword made out of light," he repeated. "Like, if a mage made a sword, but it was made out of light, instead of, you know, normal sword stuff. I mean, I guess it would have to be some kind of _magic_ sword, cuz I don't know how else that would work. But yeah, I was just wondering if you've ever heard of anything like that."

Yuffie gave a loud snort. "What the heck? What a strange, out-of-nowhere question. But what else can you expect with Sora?" She laughed and scratched her nose, leaving a smear of dirt across her cheek like warrior paint.

"Why do you ask?" ventured Aerith. She finished with the soil and stood up, dusting her hands on her apron.

"Oh, well, cuz my friends and I were trying to find one, or some information on one, at least. I'm pretty sure it's the only way we can stop this evil no-eyebrows guy from destroying the city with shadows. So if you can think of anything, that would be good." He carried over the next pot with a grunt of effort. Yuffie and Aerith raised their eyebrows skeptically at him, but, like Cloud, they had grown used to Sora's strange stories enough by now to let these sorts of things pass. With a shared shrug, they returned to potting the next sapling.

"A sword of light, hm?" pondered Aerith. "You know, my mother used to tell me a story about something like that. Just one of Nomura's old legends, really, the kind that's been passed down through generations. Although, it's not a _sword_ so much as a dagger, forged by a mage in order to protect his lover, and infused with light. Oh, it used to be one of my _favorite_ stories, I used to have my mother tell it over and over again when I was little. It's a classic, tragic love story, and you _know_ I'm a sucker for those kinds of things." She chuckled at herself while packing the soil.

"A magic dagger, huh?" said Sora, chewing the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. "Well it sounds close enough, I guess. What's the story about it?"

"You want to hear it?" Aerith asked.

"Yeah, let's hear it!" said Yuffie.

"Alright, I'll tell you. It'll be a good way to pass the time as we work." She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her gloved hand and looked over the remaining saplings. They had eleven more to go, and were making pretty good time, considering the load.

"This is the story of the Firefly Queen," she began. Her voice took on the lulling, rhythmic quality of skillful story-tellers, and Yuffie and Sora's eyes were bright with interest as they packed the next sapling in place.

Long ago, the story went, there was a mage who lived in Nomura. The mage was a charming, intelligent man from a good family, but like many young men with power and privilege, he was an idle sort of person, quite lazy and frivolous, who had never found anything to dedicate himself to.

One day, the mage was taking a walk through the hills and woods outside the town, wandering aimlessly as usual, his head full of daydreams. He paid little attention to where he walked or to the time, and by the time the sun had begun to set, he realized that he was quite lost. The forest changed completely with the setting of the sun, for while it had been peaceful during the day, it quickly became dangerous in the darkness. Trees that had guided the mage earlier now began to trick him, leading him deeper into a sinister labyrinth. Wild beast lurked in the shadows, but he was able to use his magic to keep them at bay.

Just as the mage was about to lose all hope of ever finding his way, he found a gathering of fireflies, who, like guiding candles in the night, led him through the darkness. They took him to a clearing at the edge of the forest, where he found a small cabin, lit from within by a warm glow. The door opened, and he saw standing before him the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. The mage immediately knew who this girl was, for he had heard many local myths about travelers lost in the forest who had been rescued by a mysterious girl with the ability to command fireflies. The girl standing before him was known throughout the city as the Firefly Queen.

She gave him shelter for the night, letting him stay in a room that seemed to be specially prepared for wayward travelers. Fireflies filled the cabin and helped the girl as she arranged his bed sheets and prepared a small meal for him, understanding her requests and carrying them out the way a well-trained and eager dog might.

The mage asked how she was able to command the fireflies, for he had never seen such an ability before. She explained that the fireflies were her friends, and their loyalty stemmed from the kinship they felt within her. The Firefly Queen was pure of heart, which gave her a strong and bright inner light. The fireflies, whose bodies produced light of their own, could sense this, and so were drawn to her the way common bugs were attracted to physical light. The mage thought this was amazing, for he had never met someone pure of heart before. The Firefly Queen was equally impressed with _him_, for she had never before met a mage.

In the morning, the Firefly Queen helped the mage find his way home safely. But, much like the fireflies, he felt drawn to her, and so the next night, he got himself lost in the forest on purpose so that he might see her again. Soon the mage was visiting her every night, for the more he got to know her, the more time he wished to spend with her. The Firefly Queen would smile whenever she found him at her doorstep, led by her fireflies and claiming (with mock despair) to be lost, for she felt completely drawn to him as well. It was not long before the two found themselves entirely and hopelessly in love with each other.

But their bliss could not last forever, because the Firefly Queen was being hunted by a sinister group who aimed to use the power of her pure heart for evil. The group had created a terrible and destructive weapon which could destroy the city, and they used this to threaten people and obtain influence and wealth. The weapon required light for power, and so the group targeted the Firefly Queen, for they could use her pure life force as a limitless source of energy.

The mage fought against this group many times in order to protect his lover, but he knew that she needed a way to protect herself in case something happened to him. So he forged a dagger with his magic for her to use in self-defense. Because the mage created the dagger out of pure love, with the intention of keeping someone safe, the blade itself became a tool of light, connected to the hearts of both the mage and the Firefly Queen, and was very powerful.

Then, one day, the group attacked them once again, and were able to overpower the mage and kidnap the girl. The group had grown much stronger, as many wicked people, mages and non-magic people alike, had joined the them, lured by the promise of power that their weapon held, and the mage was not strong enough to fight them all. They took the Firefly Queen to a tall tower where they began draining her light and life force. As she weakened, the weapon became stronger, and the group was quickly able to destroy much of the town. While the weapon would not kill her, it would soon drain enough of her strength to keep her from truly being alive.

The mage went after his love, intent on saving her and destroying the weapon. From the tower, the Firefly Queen could see him fighting her captors, but she saw that they were far too powerful for him, for he was already very seriously wounded and his enemies were vast. She knew that if he continued to fight, he would soon die. The Firefly Queen knew that it was already too late for her strength to ever be restored, and she could not bear to watch her lover die trying to rescue her. Although her captors had taken her dagger, she was able to summon it to her due to its unique link to her heart. She went to the window of her room, and, with all the strength she had left, stabbed the blade into her heart, for she knew that the only way the mage would stop fighting to save her would be if she were already dead. If he had no reason to come rescue her, then he would survive. The mage saw her from the tower and cried out to her, but she only gave him one last, sad smile.

The moment the dagger pierced her, all the light from the Firefly Queen's heart was released, and the force of such a pure self-sacrifice, combined with the blade's heart magic, erupted in a blinding flash. Through the dagger's power, the light obeyed her dying wish to protect, and overpowered the weapon with enough energy to destroy it in a fierce explosion. The tower crumbled from the blast, and many of the group's members were crushed.

The mage searched through the rubble for the Firefly Queen, and found her aglow with the light of her fireflies, who had led him to her one last time. In his grief over the loss of the woman he loved, the mage longed to follow her into death. He took the dagger, which had been used to kill the very person it had been forged to protect, and tried to take his own life. But the blade became dull and would not pierce him, for the Firefly Queen had given her life in order to save his, and the lingering light in the dagger would not betray her last wish. The mage despaired over his sentence to life, considering it a punishment for failing to save the woman he loved, but he knew he had no choice but to honor her sacrifice. As she was bound to death, so to was he bound to life, comforted only by his memories of her, until at last, many years later as an old man, he passed away during the night and was reunited with her once again.

By the time Aerith finished her story, the saplings had all been potted.

"Wh…what the hell kind of stupid story is that?" Yuffie sniffed, a rather transparent attempt to pretend she wasn't on the verge of tears.

"I warned you it would be a tragedy," Aerith said with a shrug and a sly smile.

"Yeah, but, I don't see why she had to kill herself in the first place! She didn't have faith that the mage could save her? What kind of love is that? Maybe he could have beat the bad guys and they could have lived happily ever after," Yuffie scoffed.

"Well, I suppose she just didn't want to risk it. She would rather give up her own life than live with the chance that he might die," said Aerith.

"Well, I don't like how old stories like this glorify suicide all the time. I mean, there could have been some other way, right?" Yuffie argued with a pout.

Aerith shrugged. "I don't think it's really _glorifying_ suicide, _per se_. The fact that the mage lives to honor her last wish just goes to prove how important living is." Yuffie had no reply to that except to complain that she had something caught in her eye. Aerith turned to Sora. "So, what did you think of it?" she asked.

"I thought it was cool how she kept fireflies as pets! That would be so awesome to have bug friends like that! You'd never have to buy candles again," he said.

Aerith raised an eyebrow. "Well, at least you got something out of it, I suppose," she said dryly. "Does the story help at all in your search, though? Does it sound like the kind of thing you and your friends were looking for?"

Sora held his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "Well, I suppose that dagger thing might work. Is it a true story, do you know?"

Aerith tilted her head in consideration. "Well, I'm not sure. It's an old Nomura legend, and it's supposed to take place in the city, which seems to give it some credibility. But you know how enthusiastic nationalists like to build up stories like that to make the city-state look good. It's possible that the story was _based_ on fact, though, however loosely. Historians would know better than I would."

"So what happened to the magic dagger? Do you know where it is?"

"Ah, no. The dagger is said to have been lost for a century," she answered with a wry chuckle. "If anyone were to find it, then I suppose it would prove the legend was true. And we certainly would have heard about it if _that_ happened. Legend enthusiasts have been searching for the dagger for years."

"Aw man, that sucks," Sora pouted. The one lead they had, as vague and fictional as it might have been, was immediately dashed. But still, he had enjoyed listening to the tale, for Aerith's story-telling was always a pleasant way to pass the time.

The three of them washed up in the store's bathroom, rinsing off enough dirt to fill several small flowerpots. When they returned to the main room of the shop, they found Tifa inspecting some lilies in interest. She looked up when they entered.

"Ah, there's my waitress," she said to Yuffie. "I've come to collect you so you can do _my_ bidding now. Are you done being a flower child?"

"Yeah, pretty much. We rocked that project, huh, Sora?" To which Sora agreed enthusiastically.

"Yes, you'd better be careful, Tifa," said Aerith with a smile, "I might recruit her for _my_ store if you don't watch out."

Yuffie threw herself to latch onto Tifa's arm. "Don't let me go, Boss," she wailed. "This woman tells sad stories that make me cry! I don't think I could handle any more!"

"What was it this time?" Tifa asked with a smirk.

"The Firefly Queen."

"Oh, god, the _Firefly Queen_! I remember I saw the Nomura Playhouse do a rendition of that about two years ago. I'm not usually into things like that, but _god_ it was beautiful!" Tifa and Aerith then launched into an animated discussion about the play and the legend. Aerith was particularly interested in the costumes used, and Tifa raved over the lead actress, who was apparently quite famous.

"Hey, who's that guy lurking outside the store?" Yuffie asked suddenly, peering out the front window into the street.

"What guy?" asked Sora, distractedly. He was busy watching Roxas chase after a fly on the other side of the room, chuckling when the cat got himself tangled in the dangling vines of a plant.

"There's some guy standing right over there. It looks like he's staring at the delivery shop for some reason." Tifa and Aerith looked up and went to the window in concern.

"Oh, he's back," said Aerith, nodding with a frown at the figure outside. "That guy's been hanging around all afternoon. He just keeps walking back and forth along the street, and stops every now and then and stares at Cloud's Deliveries for a bit before going away. Then he comes back an hour or two later and does it all over again."

Sora joined them at the window. "Oh, hey, that's Squall Leonhart!" he said. For indeed, the man lurking outside their window, staring hard-faced at the delivery shop, was none other than Nomura's general, though he was in civilian clothes now, a dark coat and slacks.

The women turned to him. "Squall Leonhart? As in Cloud's ex-secret lover? The lieutenant?"

"Yeah! I talked to him yesterday. He's nice. He has bad hearing, I think. He's a general, now, though."

Tifa's eyes widened. "Oh my god, are you sure? I hardly recognize him!" She squinted critically at the man. "Although, now that I think about it, he does sort of look familiar. He's done something different with his hair. And he definitely didn't have that scar last time I saw him."

"Wait, so he's been staking out the delivery shop all day?" Yuffie asked. "That must mean he's looking for Cloud!"

"But how did he find out that Cloud works here?"

"I told him," said Sora. The three women turned to him in alarm.

"You _what_?" they asked in unison. He told them about his talk with the General the day before, and their eyed widened with each word.

"How _mortifying_! Sora, how could you _be_ so indelicate? You really just blurted all that out? And to a _General_, no less!" Tifa cried. Sora shrugged, unashamed.

"We have to go out and say something to him!" said Yuffie. "I'll go!"

"No way," said Tifa. "The only person here less delicate than Sora would be you. _I'll_ go." Yuffie scoffed, offended, but Tifa's march to the door was blocked by Aerith's arm.

"_I'll_ go," Aerith said firmly in a tone that warned against argument. "You'll just scare him off, Tifa." Tifa pursed her lips but said nothing, since it was true. The three of them arranged themselves at the window to gawk while Aerith opened the door to the shop, closing it behind her gently as if afraid of startling a skittish animal. They watched her walk up to the man and speak to him briefly before he departed at a brisk pace. When she came back inside, her audience was all ears.

"He said he was looking for the owner of the delivery shop, for some _business_ he had. I asked what sort of business, but he wouldn't say. I told him that the owner was out but would be back later, and he left. Neither of us mentioned Cloud by name."

"Where _is_ Cloud, anyway?" Yuffie asked.

"He said he was going to Cid's for some repairs on his motorcycle," answered Sora.

"Ah, that explains it," Tifa nodded. "He can spend hours haggling with Cid about bike parts. And I know he liked to stays and watch when Cid's working on it. He cares for that hunk of metal like it was his child."

"So he was really looking for Cloud, then! I wonder what kind of _business_ he wanted to discuss," said Aerith.

"Maybe he has a _certain kind of package_ he wants _delivered_."

"Yuffie, don't be vulgar! If anything, he's probably just looking for some kind of closure. I mean, I know that things between them didn't end well, so maybe he just needs to talk to Cloud one last time so he can really move on with his life."

"Or maybe he wants to get back together!"

"Or maybe he wants to murder him. We can't rule that out."

Sora yawned and stretched his arms over his head, bored of the conversation even if he had been the initial cause of the whole mess. It was growing late, after all, and Sora's stomach had started grumbling. "Welp, I'ma get goin'" he said. He gathered up Roxas and left the three of them to gossip more about Squall's visit and what they should do about it.

Sora went up to his apartment and cooked dinner for himself and Roxas (pasta with pesto sauce and green beans, which was surprisingly successful) while the two of them chatted over what else they might do to find a sword of light. The only conclusion they came to was that the dagger from the story Aerith had told them seemed to fit the description Namine had given. It had been forged with love by a powerful mage, and apparently had some power over light, which seemed to be the only real qualifications they had been given. Unfortunately, even if the legend of the Firefly Queen were true and the dagger actually existed, it had still been lost for a century, which was no help. So they were back at square one. Roxas suggested returning to the library, but Sora flatly refused. He was still confident that something would turn up.

It was barely seven o'clock in the evening by the time they had finished eating and washing up, and Sora was feeling bored and restless. So he and Roxas went out for a walk, since the weather was nice out and they had nothing better to do. The sun had only just finished setting, and stars were beginning to peak through the darkening sky. The streets were empty and quiet save for the festivities of the crickets, but that wasn't so unusual at this time of the evening. Besides, it was quite pleasant to have the streets to themselves, and Roxas could talk without being overheard.

They passed by Tidus' house and found him out front, kicking a ball back and forth with several other neighborhood kids Sora was friendly with. Sora joined their game, which had no exact rules or teams, and was all the more fun because of it. He told Tidus about his ventures to the Jenova mansion and about the tea-drinking and biscuit-eating that often transpired there. The last bit had Tidus laughing so hard he didn't notice the ball being aimed at him, and so was unprepared when it smacked him in the head.

"What the hell, Yuna!" he sputtered, rubbing the reddening side of his face tenderly. "How could you damage my beautiful face like that?"

Yuna, the guilty offender, was failing miserably at hiding her smile. "But it looks kind of better with that big red mark, you know?" she said as innocently as she could manage. The rest of the group burst into laughter, and the game was renewed with fierce vigor as Tidus attempted to exact revenge on them all.

Soon, though, the players were called home one by one, either for dinner or for chores that needed finishing, and Sora and Roxas were left wandering the streets once more.

They were making their way back home when Sora stopped suddenly in his tracks.

"What's up?" Roxas asked from his shoulder.

"Look over there," he said in a peculiar tone, pointing a finger in front of them. "Fireflies."

Roxas looked up and saw that, sure enough, there several fireflies flitting about a large patch of garden not far from where they stood.

"Yes, fireflies. Very good, Sora. Next week we'll work on identifying butterflies and beetles, too," Roxas deadpanned.

"No, I mean, what if they can help us?"

"They're _bugs_. How on earth would they help us?"

"Says the _cat_," Sora replied with a cheeky grin.

"Well sure, but when have I ever been any help to you? You're just proving my point," Roxas snorted.

"C'mon, let's just go see!" But it wasn't like Roxas really had much of a choice, anyway, since he was riding on Sora's shoulder and would, technically, go wherever Sora went.

The glowing bugs scattered a bit as Sora ran up to them, but they didn't go far. He stood at the edge of the garden, looking up at the blinking lights hovering around him, his excitement radiating from him like steam.

"Excuse me, fireflies!" he called. "I have a question for you and I was wondering if you could help me out!" Roxas was fairly embarrassed by this ridiculous scene, and was grateful that there was nobody around to witness Sora talking to bugs like a crazy person. The fireflies, in any case, did not respond, but this did not deter Sora in the slightest.

"I was wondering if any of you have ever heard of the Firefly Queen!" he continued. And, weirdly enough, this seemed to get the bugs' interest. They stopped darting around the plants and hung in the air as if all their attention was on the human boy shouting at them, and Sora figured this was a good sign. "I'm going to take that as a yes, I guess. And if you've heard of her, then I'm sure you must have heard of her magic dagger, right?" The fireflies bobbed and blinked immediately, and even Roxas was impressed by how responsive they were. "Awesome! Okay, now here's the really tough question, and this is the most important one, so I need you guys to really think about it. Do any of you happen to know where the Firefly Queen's magic dagger _is_? Cuz I know it was apparently lost a century ago, but if anyone would know where it is, it would be you fireflies, right?"

And suddenly the fireflies began fluttering to and fro, blinking vigorously like sailors sending Morse code. They whizzed about Sora's head and nipped at Roxas' tail in a flurry, and Roxas succumbed to his urge to swipe at them more than once.

Startled and overwhelmed, Sora marveled at the bugs. "Could—could you take me to it?" he choked out.

At that, the fireflies zoomed away from him, forming a line which bobbed and swayed, and began floating off down the street slowly. Sora's face lit up with glee.

"I don't care _what_ you say, Roxas. There is no _way_ you can deny that it looks like these bugs can take us to that magic dagger," he said.

And, to be honest, Roxas was having as pretty hard time coming up with any other explanation. The cat gave a defeated sigh and shook his head. Of _course_ Sora would be able to talk to bugs. Typical. Roxas figured he shouldn't be surprised by these kinds of things anymore.

"Yeah, whatever," he grumbled. "So, are we gonna follow these fireflies or what?" The fireflies had noticed that Sora was not going after them, and they had paused in wait halfway down the street.

"Mm, not yet," Sora said. "We should get Riku, Kairi and Namine to come with us. I think this is the kind of thing we need a group for. Who knows what kind of obstacles we'll come across."

"Obstacles?" Roxas questioned.

"Well sure. Even if fireflies are showing us the way, there's bound to be some kind of issue. We're searching for a magic dagger that's been lost for a century after all. If no one else could find it, then it can't be that easy."

"Okay, well if we run off to find those guys, the fireflies will probably have wandered away by the time we get back."

"Hm, quite true. We would not want to waste this opportunity. And who knows the next time we'll run into such helpful bugs." His eyebrows knotted together in thought. "Alright, I've got it!" he exclaimed after a moment. "How about you run off to get everybody while I wait here with the fireflies?"

"What? Why do _I_ have to go?" Roxas complained. "I can wait here just as well as you can, and it'll be faster if _you_ go. Just take your bike."

"Yeah, but I'm the one they were responding to. What if they don't want to wait around with a cat? You'll probably try to eat them anyway."

"I won't!"

"C'mon, just do it for me, _please_? You can take the train, it won't be so bad. And I promise I'll let you eat as much ice cream as you want in exchange! Unlimited ice cream for a whole _week_!"

The offer was a persuasive one, but Roxas made a show of thinking it over so Sora wouldn't realize quite how easy it was to get him to agree to something. He set off grumpily down the street, with thoughts of endless bowls of ice cream spurring him forward as he headed for the train station.

A smile blossomed slowly over Sora's face as he watched Roxas slink around the corner. A month ago, there would have been no way Roxas would have ever agreed to traveling across town and interacting with people on his own, no matter how much ice cream had been promised. So perhaps Cloud had been right. If Sora could keep gently nudging Roxas out of his comfort zone little by little, then he might actually start making some progress on his recovery.

He grinned broadly at the fireflies in excitement, but they were oblivious to the milestone they had just witnessed.

* * *

**A/N: Oh look, this story isn't abandoned! What a surprise. Sorry for the slow update, but I blame most of it on the fact that I was without a computer for a while. Excuses, I know, but that's life. At least I made it nice and long for you, eh? And I know the last couple chapters have been a bit slow, but hey, transitional parts of stories are important, too, right? I promise things will actually start happening soon. And I promise it wont take as long 'til my next update. I think.**


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